Veterinaria

Review Article

Semen extenders and artificial insemination in ruminants

Fawad Ur Rehman a, Chunqiu Zhao a, Muhammad Ali Shah a, Muhammad Subhan Qureshi b, Xuemei Wang a*

a State key Laboratory of Bioelectronics, School of Biological Sciences and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

b Department of Livestock Management, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Artificial insemination is one of the important tools for genetic improvement in modern dairy breeding practices and it is only possible with efficient extender. Extender has a vital role in the preservation of sperm cell and its quality parameters such as viability, motility, acrosome and membrane integrity etc. Semen extenders contain buffering system to maintain pH of the medium (Tris, sodium phosphate, citric acid), cryoshock preservatives (glycerin, egg yolk, soy-lecithin, milk), provide energy (fructose) and guarantee the microbial free environment i.e. antibiotics (streptomycin, penicillin, polymixin B). Here, in this review we will focus on the effects of different extender ingredients used for dilution of semen in ruminants to achieve Artificial insemination (AI).

Keywords: Semen extenders, Artificial insemination, Ruminants, Genetic improvement.

Received June 05, 2013; Revised August 08, 2013; Accepted August 13, 2013

*Corresponding author: Xuemei Wang; E-mail: xuewang@seu.edu.cn