Comparison of the Conventional and Ultra-Rapid Freezing Techniques in Gabon Bucks Throughout the Year

The aim of this work was to compare the effectiveness of ultra-rapid freezing (UF) and conventional slow freezing (CF) to cryopreserve buck sperm throughout the year. During 1 year, semen from 10 adult Gabon bucks was collected by electroejaculation every 2 weeks. Before and after freezing, samples were selected by density gradient centrifugation, and after sperm selection, the sample was divided into two aliquots. One aliquot was CF with an extender based on Tris, citric acid, and glucose (TCG) +6% yolk +5% glycerol, and maintained at 5°C for 3 hours of equilibration before freezing. The other aliquot was frozen using an UF method with an extender based on TCG +6% yolk +100 mM sucrose, and maintained at 5°C for 30 minutes. The evaluations included the percentages of motile sperm, sperm with progressive motility, quality of sperm motility, and the percentages of sperm with functional membrane, live sperm, sperm with morphoabnormalities, and sperm with intact acrosome. The percentage of sperm with intact acrosome was higher using the conventional freezing method (p < 0.05). After thawing and at pre- and postselection stages, the quality of motility, and the percentages of motile sperm, progressive motile sperm, sperm with functional membrane, and with intact acrosome were greater using CF than UF (p < 0.005). Conventional freezing was more effective than UF to cryopreserve sperm from Gabon bucks, at least in our experimental conditions. Most differences in favor of CF were observed in the quality of motility, and the percentages of motile sperm, progressive motile sperm, sperm with functional membrane, and with intact acrosome during long periods of the year, or even remained throughout it.