Short term viability of turkey semen extended with coconut milk fortified with watermelon juice

Abstract

Natural remedies have long been sought in the preparation of semen extenders for various species owing to their ability to reduce oxidative stress and the maintain the viability of semen. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of coconut milk fortified with watermelon juice on the vitality of turkey spermatozoa. This study involved use of freshly prepared coconut milk, watermelon juice, a combination of both, turkey semen extracted from the testes of turkeys from the abattoir shortly after slaughter, egg yolk semen extender and distilled water as positive and negative controls respectively. Extracts were used at 5 different concentrations of 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 100% v/v. Vitality and motility were assessed on the different treatments at different concentrations for 1-hour interval, for a total of 4 hours. A one-way ANOVA at 95% CI showed no statistical difference in vitality between fortification and the other extracts (p value > 0.05) but a statistical difference in the motility (p =0.007). This was suggestive that upon fortification, sperm motility was improved with little or deviation in vitality. Vitality and motility also reduced drastically along the different durations, and concentrations (all p values < 0.05), with best results obtained within 1 hour and 30% v/v of combination providing the best vitality and motility, although a statistical difference in vitality and motility with the positive control (all p values < 0.05) across all extracts. Therefore, this affirms that none of the extracts could be used with a motive of prolonging the viability of the spermatozoa. Additionally, none of the treatments had a progressive motility >32% recommended by WHO semen analysis manual. This is suggestive that none of the extracts is reliable for a practical AI for longer durations which is inevitable on big commercial farms.