The influence of various rates of royal jelly enriched extenders on frozen/thawed sperm quality and fertility in goats

Abstract

The goal of this study was to detect the influence of royal jelly which has a strong antioxidant capacity supplementation in TRIS egg yolk and TRIS soybean lecithin extenders on quality and fertility. Sperm was collected from 5 Damascus bucks via an electro ejaculator during the breeding season. After dilution and cooling, the lowest motility and membrane integrity were detected in TEY-1RJ, in terms of abnormal spermatozoon rate, the TEY-1RJ group was the highest in cooled semen (P<0.05). After dilution and cooling, osmolality decreased significantly when the RJ ratio increased (P<0.05). After freezing-thawing, in both TEY and TSL extenders, the lowest sperm quality was detected in the 1% RJ groups. In terms of intact acrosome ratio, the highest value was recorded in the 0.50% RJ group in TEY and TSL diluents (P<0.05). Fertility assessments were conducted with 150 goats synchronized with intravaginal sponges and goats were inseminated transcervical. There was no difference between pregnancy rates between TEY and TSL-control and RJ groups (P>0.05). As a result, it was deduced that RJ additions to TEY and TSL extenders did not produce any alternative to freezing on sperm quality in Damascus goat semen except for the intact acrosome ratio and had no positive effect on fertility.