Abstract

HERNANDEZ PICHARDO, José Ernesto; MIRANDA MARTINEZ, Arianna  and  RODRIGUEZ SUASTEGUI, José Luis. Sperm quality of sheep encapsulated semen, stored for three days at two different temperatures. Rev Salud Anim. [online]. 2021, vol.43, n.2  Epub Aug 08, 2021. ISSN 2224-4700.

Semen encapsulation may be an alternative to conventional methods of semen preservation, contributing to the efficiency of artificial insemination by maintaining sperm motility and viability for extended periods of time, but these characteristics of encapsulated semen have generally been determined for 24 hours. The research was aimed at evaluating the sperm quality of sheep encapsulated semen stored refrigerated or at room temperature for 24, 48 and 72 h. The ejaculates obtained were diluted and divided into three portions for the groups: control (refrigerated semen), refrigerated encapsulated semen (SE-R) and encapsulated semen at room temperature (SE-TA). Capsules were made with sodium alginate (0.5 %) and BaCl2 (50 mM). According to the results, the control group obtained the best values ​​in progressive motility and viability during the study. Motility evaluations among encapsulated semen showed that SE-R obtained higher percentage than SE-TA during 72 h of storage (p<0,05). Moreover, SE-R motility was similar to that of the control group (p>0,05) at 48 h and 72 h of storage, respectively. In terms of viability, SE-R was the only group that maintained the proportion of live spermatozoa during storage period from 24 to 72 hours (p>0,05). Accordingly, SE-R maintained progressive motility and viability for a longer storage time and can be an alternative in IA programs, where it is necessary to extend the fertilizing capacity of the sperm.

Keywords : sheep; encapsulated semen; sodium alginate; sperm quality; refrigerated storage.

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