The Addition of Opuntia ficus-indica Ethanolic Extract to a Skimmed Milk-Based Extender Impacts Ram Sperm Quality

Table 6

The effect of ETHEX on DNA fragmentation index after 8, 24, 48 and 72 hours of ram liquid semen stored at 5°C in SM.

Group	Storage time (h)
	8	24	48	72
CONTROL	4.70 ± 0.48^a	9.75 ± 1.11^a	14.5 ± 0.29^a	15.75 ± 0.63^a
ETHEX 1%	1.75 ± 0.41^b	3.50 ± 0.29^b	6.25 ± 0.25^b	8.50 ± 0.50^b
ETHEX 2%	3.50 ± 0.50^ab	5.40 ± 0.63^b	8.80 ± 0.45^b	10.75 ± 0.80^b

The DNA fragmentation index (%) was analyzed for semen stored during 72 hours at 5°C in skim milk supplemented with selected ETHEX concentrations. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. Different superscripts^(a,b) within the same column indicate a significant effect of the extender within each duration of storage.