Preservability of buffalo bull semen in tris-citrate extender enriched with bee’s honey

Abstract

Honey produced by Apis mellifera lamarckii is a natural supersaturated sugar solution with important nutritive ingredients. The present study aimed to improve semen preservability through the use of honey as an extender additive expressed in chilled and frozen semen of native buffalo bulls. Three mature buffalo bulls were used for semen collection. Semen samples were diluted with TRIS extender (control) and TRIS-Honey bee extender (THB-1%, THB-2%, THB-3%, THB-4%, THB-5%). Extended semen was slowly cooled, packed into 0.25 ml straws and frozen in liquid nitrogen. A fraction of extended semen from control TCFY and each concentration of THB were kept at 5°C for 7 days (chilling) and sperm motility was evaluated daily. The parameters studied were subjective semen characteristics (motility, alive, abnormality and sperm membrane integrity using hypoosmotic swelling test (HOST) %). Results revealed that sperm motility % of a THB-1% was the best after 7 days of chilling (60.00%), while THB-2% concentration was the best after thawing (55.00%). Finally, it is concluded that, addition of 1% (in chilling) and 2-5% (in freezing) of honey solution to semen extender enhanced the main sperm characteristical parameters of buffalo bull semen.