EFFECT OF THE ADDITION OF SEMINAL PLASMA, VITAMIN E AND INCUBATION TIME ON POST-THAWED SPERM VIABILITY IN BOAR SEMEN

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of seminal plasma (SP), vitamin E (VE), and incubation time on sperm viability of post-thawed boar semen. Thirty six ejaculates were used and allocated to four treatments: T1, semen + BTS (Belstville Thawing Solution) + 10% SP; T2, semen + BTS + 200μg/ml VE; T3, semen + BTS + 10% SP + 200μg/ml VE; T4, semen + BTS (control). Motility (MOT), intact acrosomes (IA), membrane integrity (MI) and mitochondrial activity (MA) were evaluated, at 0 and 30 min after thawing. A split plot design was used and the data analyzed using a mixed model analysis of variance. There was a significant effect of SP and VE on IA and MI (P<0.05) but not on MOT and MA (P>0.05). There was significant effect of incubation time on MOT (21.3 and 27.9%) and IA (46.0 and 36.0%), at 0 and 30 min post-thawing (P <0.05). It is concluded that the vitamin E, seminal plasma or the combination of both, affected the thawed sperm traits here studied. Incubation time increased motility and intact acrosome percentage but did not affect the membrane integrity and mitochondrial activity.