THE ADDITION OF ACAI PALM FRUIT EXTRACT IN THE CRYOPRESERVATION DILUENT OF BULL'S SEMEN WITH LOW PERFORMANCE ON FREEZING

摘要

BACKGROUND: Semen freezing is of great importance for animal production because it allows the use and the rapid diffusion of the genetic material from economically important animals. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of acai (Euterpe oleracea; Arecaceae family) extract addition to the semen cryopreservation diluent on the morphology, sperm motility parameters, and plasma membrane integrity of spermatozoa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The ejaculates, obtained from five bulls with low performance on semen freezing, were fractionated and distributed according to the experimental group. The control samples did not have acai extract added, whereas to the treated groups were added 5, 10, 15 or 20 mg ml(-1) of acai extract into the semen diluent. The sperm morphology was evaluated with a formalin-saline-buffered solution. The plasma membrane integrity was evaluated by the epifluorescent test, while the cellular kinetics was assessed by an automated analysis of the spermatic movement. RESULTS: The sperm defects showed a linearly decreasing effect (P < 0.05) with the addition of different concentrations of acai extract. The plasma membrane integrity was higher (P < 0.05) after the acai addition to the cryopreservation diluent. There was no significant effect (P > 0.05) of the acai extract on the kinetics of spermatozoa. CONCLUSION: The addition of acai extract to the cryopreservation diluent provided better preservation of the structural integrity of the sperm plasma membrane in the bull's semen with low tolerance to the cryopreservation process.