Using Gum Arabic in Place of Egg Yolk as Cryoprotectant for Cryopreservation of the Buck Semen

Abstract

Background: Egg yolk (EY) is well known to be toxic for buck spermatozoa, which creates restrictions of its use in cryopreservation. Therefore, this study is to compare the effect of different levels of gum Arabic (GA) in an extender on quality and fertility of cryopreserved buck sperm. Methods: Each ejaculate of six bucks was frozen in Tris with one of concentrations of GA which contained 3, 6, 9 and 12 gm/ 100 ml in place of the EY. Control was Tris extender containing 2.5% of EY. Result: A percentages of total motile sperm (54.92%; P less than 0.05) and progressively motile sperm (26.22%; P less than 0.05) of semen was frozen in Tris containing 9% of GA. Similar to control group, the pregnancy rate of does inseminated with extender containing 9% (50.0%) were significantly higher than those of does inseminated with extender containing 6% (8.33%), 3% (0.0%) and 12% (0.0%). Semen evaluation and fertility rate were similar when replacing the EY with GA in the Tris cryodiluent, after cryopreservation of buck semen. The present study shows that high motility rate of frozen semen and acceptable pregnancy rate can be obtained when using GA in place of EY for cryopreserving the buck sperm.