Effects of pomegranate juice in Tris-based extender on cattle semen quality after chilling and cryopreservation

Abstract

Objective: To study the effect of adding different concentrations of the pomegranate juice (PJ) to the cattle bull semen extender on post-thawing semen quality. Methods: Semen was collected from five cattle-bulls at weekly intervals for 5 weeks at the Semen Freezing Center, General Organization for Vet. Services, Ministry of Agriculture. Semen samples were diluted in Tris-citric acid-egg yolk-fructose extender and divided into six aliquots, the 1st served as control while PJ was supplemented at 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% in the aliquot 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. Diluted semen samples were subjected to cooling and cryopreservation and stored in liquid nitrogen (LN2). Sperm motility in chilled semen (over 10 d) and post-thawing sperm parameters, including individual motility, alive sperm, membrane integrity, and total sperm abnormality were assessed. Results: Obtained results clearly demonstrated that the addition of 10% PJ in the chilled extended cattle semen proved to be beneficial for maintaining sperm motility percentage. On the other hand, the addition of 40% and 50% PJ failed to preserve motility all over the 10 d. Also, supplementation of extender with 10–20% PJ significantly increases the post-thaw motility and viability as compared with control group. Conclusions: Supplementation of bull semen extender with 10% and 20% PJ provides good chilling and improved frozen-thawed semen quality.

Keywords

• Pomegranate juice
• Semen
• Cattle bull
• Cryopreservation