Effect of milk based extenders on motility and acrosomal integrity of buffalo bull (Bubalus bubalis) spermatozoa at 5°C

This study was designed to compare six different milk based extenders for the liquid storage of nili- ravi buffalo bull semen. semen was collected from three nili-ravi buffalo bulls with artificial vagina (42°c) at weekly intervals (n=5). semen was diluted (at 37°c) with six milk based extenders; homogenized milk (hom),whole buffalo milk (buf),whole cow milk (cow),whole camel milk (cam),modified homogenized milk (mod) and skimmed milk (skim). after dilution,semen was cooled to 5°c in 2 h and then it was refrigerated at 5°c for 96 h. sperm motility (%) and normal acrosomal ridge (nar; %) were recorded at 24 h intervals till 96 h. sperm motility did not differ up to 72 h of storage in all experimental extenders,while higher (p<0.05) motility was observed in skim after 96 h of storage,that remained similar to sperm motility in hom extender. overall least square mean of sperm motility for skim was higher (p < 0.05) compared to hom,buf,cow,cam and mod after 96 h of storage period. percentage of sperm with nar remained similar (p>0.05) in skim,cow,buf and hom extenders at 24 h of storage. however,at 72 and 96 h of storage,values for nar were higher (p<0.05) in skim and cow compared to hom,buf,cam and mod extenders. the values of nar in terms of least square means remained higher (p<0.05) for skim and cow extenders compared to other extenders. in conclusion,skimmed milk based extender was found superior for chilled buffalo semen stored at 5°c. copyright 2015 zoological society of pakistan.