Effect of honey supplementation on Egyptian buffalo semen

kandiel, Mohamed Mahmoud MoustafaElkhawagah, Ahmed Reda Mohamed

This study testified the effect of honey supplementation (0.5-4.0%) in milk on the quality of chilled and frozen buffalo spermatozoa. Semen was chilled with/without honey and examined for motility, viability, plasma membranes integrity by hypo-osmotic swelling test (HOS) at 0, 1, 2 and 4 h. Frozen-thawed semen was examined for the same criteria beside the viability index and in vitro cleavage rate. The motility, livability and HOS of chilled semen upsurge with honey supplementation 1.0-2.0%. The normality of chilled spermatozoa was improved in the presence of 2.0-4.0% of honey at 4 h. Tail abnormalities decreased with milk honey 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% at 2, 1 and 4 h, respectively. Incorporation of honey in milk extenders at levels of 0.5-2.0% was associated with an enhanced post equilibration motility. The post-thawing motility showed a steady increase with honey levels. The viability index increased (P < 0.001) with milk-honey 2.0% (109.00 ± 9.91) and 4.0% (112.00 ± 14.41). In vitro cleavage rate was clearly (P 0.001) enhanced in the co-existence of milk-honey 2.0% compared with control (74.00 vs. 45.83). In the meantime, a reasonable high cleavage rate (67.00%) was encountered with milk honey 0.5%. In conclusion, incorporation of honey in skim milk extenders is promising to enhance the characteristics and fertilizing potential of stored buffalo’s semen due to its nutritive and protective properties.(AU)

1. frozen semen
2. in vitro fertilization
3. honey
4. spermatozoa
5. chilled semen
6. skimmed milk
7. buffalo