Caracterización de semen de zángano y efecto de la jalea real en la crio preservación de los espermatozoides

Abstract

Pollinator populations, particularly bees, have significantly declined due to environmental changes and the indiscriminate use of pesticides, affecting the number of hives worldwide. This has decreased their pollination service, triggering a low agricultural yield that jeopardizes food security. Cryopreservation offers a potential solution for species preservation. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of adding royal jelly to the cryopreservation of drone spermatozoa, for which seminal samples were extracted from 396 drones. Initially, the fresh semen was characterized as a starting point; then two treatments were prepared; T1 DMSO as a cryoprotectant along with a TCG-based diluent (tris, citric acid, glucose) containing egg yolk supplemented with 1% jelly, and T2 without jelly supplementation (control). These samples were cryopreserved to evaluate seminal quality after thawing. The results obtained indicated a 38.4% sperm collection efficiency and an average ejaculate volume of 0.8 µL, with a sperm concentration of 2.8 ± 0.43 X 106. In addition, significance for the morphology variable was expressed, while the motility, membrane integrity, and viability variables showed no significant differences. The data were subjected to the Student’s T-test. In conclusion, the post-cryopreservation data of drone semen revealed limited benefits; however, experimentation with the inclusion of percentages other than those used in this study is necessary to optimize the results