The rate of L-lactate production: a feasible parameter for the fresh diluted boar semen quality analysis

The rate of L-lactate production was defined as the ability of a boar semen sample to produce L-lactate in a medium containing known levels of fructose. When this parameter was studied jointly with others used in boar semen analysis, good correlations between L-lactate production and the percentages of viability, altered acrosomes, total motility and osmotic resistance test were observed. The rate of L-lactate production was the strongest parameter when a principal component analysis was performed in a semen analysis which also included the percentages of viability, altered acrosomes, morphological abnormalities, total and progressive motilities and osmotic resistance test. Additionally, L-lactate production showed a poor repeatability coefficient, similarly to other parameters. These results indicated that some poorly defined external factors seriously affect the ability of these parameters to predict the future semen quality for a boar when an analysis from a single sample had been performed. A relatively high correlation was observed between the rate of L-lactate production and the quotient between the number of farrowings and the number of inseminations when the analyzed semen samples were used in artificial insemination, although the data in vivo were too scarce to show stronger evidence. These results indicated that the rate of L-lactate production was a feasible and potent parameter to evaluate the fresh boar semen quality.