EFFECT OF THE HERBAL ADDITIVE "YUCCA" ON RABBIT SPERMATOZOA CHARACTERISTICS

Abstract

The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of the plant additive “Yucca†on rabbit spermatozoa characteristics. Rabbit males of New Zealand White line were used in the experiments. Males in control group were fed with commercially available normal granular feed. In experimental group (E1) 5 g of plant Yucca shidigera was added to the 100 kg of the normal feed. In the second experimental group (E2) 20 g of Yucca shidigera was added to 100 kg of the normal feed. The males were fed from weaning until they reached the sexual maturity. Semen samples from 5 New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit males in each group were collected using an artificial vagina and evaluated using the CASA system for concentration and motility. The males in E2 group had significantly higher sperm motility in comparison with the control group (91.54±1.84% vs. 74.08±5.97%). The males in E1 and E2 group had significantly higher progressive motility in comparison with the control group (72.56±4.75% and 82.84±2.55% vs. 53.98±6.49%, respectively). This preliminary study suggests that the addition of Yucca shidigera plant into the normal feed had positive effects on male’s spermatozoa parameters.