The effect of different rates of royal jelly supplementation to the extender on freezability of sperm and fertility in goats

In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of different concentrations of royal jelly (RJ) to Tris egg yolk and Tris soy lecithin based extenders on semen quality and fertility. Sperm were collected from 5 Damascus goats using an electroejaculator. Ejaculates which were more than 0,5 ml, 70% motility and at least 1,5 billion spermatozoon density per ml, were pooled and were diluted to be 1x109/ ml of motile spermatozoon. The semen was equilibrated for 4 hours, loaded into straws and were frozen. Fertility assessments were conducted with 150 goats synchronized with intravaginal sponges and goats were inseminated with groups which were had the best spermatological properties transcervically. Pregnancy diagnosis was performed on the 21st and 50th days after insemination. In diluted and cooled semen, motility and membrane integrity of Tris-EY diluent was the lowest in 1% RJ group (P<0.05). In terms of abnormal spermatozoon rate, 1% RJ group was the highest, while 0,25% and 0,50 RJ groups were the lowest in cooled semen (P<0.05). After dilution and cooling, osmolality was decrease significantly when RJ ratio increased (P<0.05). After equilibration in Tris-EY diluent, membrane integrity was determined as the lowest in 1% RJ group, while the other groups were found to be similar. After freezing thawing, the lowest motility, viability and membrane integrity was detected in the 1% RJ groups in extenders while 0,25% and 0,50% RJ groups and the control groups were similar. In terms of intact acrosome ratio, the highest value was recorded in the 0,50% RJ group in Tris-EY and Tris-SL diluents, while the lowest rate was found in the 1% RJ group (P<0.05). After freezing-thawing, the Tris-SL %0,50 RJ extender group had higher intact acrosome ratio compared to the Tris-EY %0,50 RJ group, while the Tris-EY %0,75 RJ group had higher plasma membrane integrity compared to the Tris-SL %0,75 RJ group (P<0.05). There was no difference between pregnancy rates and embryonic losses between Tris-EY and Tris-SL control and trial groups (P>0.05). As a result, it was concluded that royal jelly additions to Tris-EY and Tris-SL extenders did not produce an alternative to freezing Damascus goat semen except for the intact acrosome ratio and had no positive effect on fertility.