Reproductive traits of male weaner rabbits fed graded levels of <i>Garcinia Kola</i> (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.