Effect of tonophosphan, zinc oxide, and ascorbic acid on semen, sexual desire, and the fertility rate of Egyptian buffalo bulls

Abstract

A twenty weeks experimental trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of using tonophosphan (8 ml injection), zinc oxide (ZnO) at 0.8 g oral dose and ascorbic acid (AA) at 0.5% oral dose of live body weight on reproductive performance of Egyptian buffalo bulls (n = 20, 550–600 kg). The overall mean of all treated groups yielded marked improvement in all semen physical characteristics. Reaction time (RT), scrotal circumference, testicular volume, the concentration of semen fructose, testosterone, total proteins, and albumin in blood plasma were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) improved in all treatment groups compared with the control, but were greater in tonophosphan group. The highest concentrations of phosphorus and zinc in blood or semen were observed in tonophosphan and zinc treatments, respectively as compared to other groups. Overall mean of all semen physical characteristics and sperm outputs were not affected by advancing collection weeks. Meanwhile, the testosterone concentration and testicular volume increased (P ≤ 0.05), whereas the reaction time did not vary. The conception rate of buffalo cows was the highest (P ≤ 0.05) in tonophosphan (82.8%), followed by ascorbic acid and zinc (77.1 and 74.2%) as compared to the control group (60%). These findings suggested that tonophosphan, zinc oxide, and ascorbic acid supplementation improved the reproductive performance of Egyptian buffalo bulls; however, tonophosphan showed better performance.