Reproductive traits of male weaner rabbits fed graded levels of Garcinia Kola (bitter kola)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of Garcinia kola on the reproductive traits of male rabbits. Twenty four (24) male rabbits of about 1.0+0.46kg were randomly assigned into four (4) treatment groups. Treatment one (T1) had 0% Garcinia kola, while T2 had 2.5% Garcinia kola and Treatment three and four (T3 and T4) had 5% and 7.5% respectively. There were significant difference (p<0.05) on all parameters measured. Sperm concentration, sperm count and libido were highest in T4 when compared to other treatments. In fact bitter kola supplemented diets were better (p< 0.05) in terms of semen volume sperm concentration, motility and count. The percentage live sperm though differed (p<0.05) significantly did not take a definite pattern that can be attributed to toxic effect of chemical component of bitter kola.

Keywords: Bitter kola, male rabbits, sperm, libido.