Jul 23, 2022 09:00:00

Coconut juice turns out to be useful for 'artificial insemination of pigs'

Coconut juice contained in coconut fruit has a gentle sweetness and a refreshing flavor, and is a popular beverage because it is rich in electrolytes and antioxidants such as potassium, sodium, and manganese. A new researcher in Uganda , East Africa, has reportedly found that coconut juice is useful in 'artificial insemination of pigs.'

Coconut water aids artificial insemination of pigs --Sub-Saharan Africa
https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/news/coconut-water-aids-artificial-insemination-of-pigs/

Step aside hipsters, scientists need your coconut water to artificially inseminate pigs | Live Science
https://www.livescience.com/coconut-water-pig-insemination

Uganda is the country with the highest demand for pork in East Africa, and the International Livestock Research Institute estimates that per capita consumes 3.4 kg of pork annually. However, many small-scale farmers raise pigs of poor breeding and growth rates, and many of the pork produced is of low quality. This is partly because inbreeding is more likely to occur in many villages, where one or two males are mated with dozens of females.

Pigs born by intimate mating tend to be low-quality meat with less lean meat and more fat, and are also susceptible to infectious diseases such as African swine fever and pig breeding / respiratory disorder syndrome . Therefore, with the funding of the Uganda-based Agricultural Capacity Development Regional University Forum (RUFORUM) , a project to popularize 'artificial insemination of pigs' has been launched in 2017.

Spontaneous mating carries not only the risk of incestuous mating but also the risk of spreading the infection, but artificial insemination by artificially injecting sperm reduces that risk, and injecting high-quality male pig sperm is the next step. It can be expected to improve the meat quality of generations and improve productivity. Elly Ndyomugyenyi, Principal Investigator of the Project and Senior Lecturer at Guru University , said, 'Artificial insemination collects the semen of excellent male pigs to improve their genotype (in the population) and promote increased productivity. '.

The problem with artificial insemination of pigs is that even if sperm are collected from high-quality male pigs, it is difficult to transport them alive to farms throughout Uganda. A new project team working on this issue discovered that storing collected male pig sperm in coconut juice extends sperm lifespan 24 times longer than normal.

Joab Malanda, a pig breeding expert and project member at

Egerton University in Kenya, said, 'Sperm live about four hours outside the body of a male pig and then begin to die of malnutrition and temperature changes. In addition, it can live for up to 96 hours and be fertilized at the right time. ' At the time of writing the article, this finding was not published as a peer-reviewed treatise.

'The high levels of sodium and potassium in green coconut are factors that help sperm motility and longevity,' said Ndyomugyenyi. 'Coconut fruit, like any other fruit, is easily available in the local market.' comment. The coconut juice used to store sperm needs to be extracted by cutting coconut with a disinfected blade, rubbed with a cotton cloth, and poured into a clean beaker. The average amount of semen that can be collected from male pigs is about 200 ml, and by dividing the semen into 10 doses using coconut juice, it is possible to inseminate 10 female pigs with one ejaculation.

'Artificial insemination can be sustained and scaled up by smallholders, mainly because coconut nuts are found almost throughout the African Continent,' said Ndyomugyenyi. I did.