Thesis (BS Biology) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, 2000

This study aimed to compare three devised methods of semen storage with regard to semen quality. There were three devised methods assessed. Which involved pre-thawed semen: storing frozen semen in ice (T1), ice + salt (T2), and wrapping semen with damp towel (T3). All the samples were thawed under water bath condition at 370C for 30 seconds and subjected to the respective treatments. Initial observation of motility was done and smearing was followed for observation of acrosome integrity. Observations were done every hour for five hours. The results of the experiment showed that T1 resulted in an increase in sperm motility after five hours of storage. Both T2 and T3 resulted in a decrease in motility after five hours of storage. The motility mean for T1, T2, and T3 were 5,058, 4.771, and 4.02, respectively, with T1 showing the highest motility. Acrosome integrity was not significantly affected by storage under T2 and T3. However, for T1, a decrease in the proportional of normal acrosome was observed up to the third hour. After four hours, a significant increase was observed, although the obtained value was significantly lower (80.57) than that for T2 and T3 with values 85.66 and 85.95, respectively. Except in treatment 1, there was no significant difference in post-thaw motility and acrosome integrity of spermatozoa between bull 1 and bull 2. Ice storage can be a useful storage method to maintain motility, however, further studies must be conducted to determine the effects of handling methods on other physical characteristics of spermatozoa. Storage in ice + salt can also be an alternative handling method because its final motility was significantly higher than the initial, although in the fifth hour. It started to decrease