22.01.2018
Our INRA 96 is celebrating its 20th birthday and is still the equine media of choice for the majority of AI studs and stallion owners worldwide. Thanks to its high performance, an estimated three million foals have been born since its introduction.
Here is a summary of the results obtained by the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA):
The results obtained after 24 hours’ preservation demonstrate that the fertility of some stallions was improved by preserving their semen at 15°C (Batellier et al 1998 – Delayed insemination is successful with a new extender for storing fresh equine semen at 15°C under aerobic conditions). This is hence an alternative for stallions whose semen cannot withstand the harmful effects of the cold shock induced by reducing the temperature to 4°C. These results indicate that INRA96 can be used at temperatures of both 15°C and 4°C, in line with requirements and depending on stallion semen quality.
Moreover, the results obtained after 72 hours’ preservation demonstrate the feasibility of preserving semen in INRA96 for more than 24 hours prior to insemination (Batellier et al., 2001) while maintaining fertility (Chanavat et al., 2005; Vidament et al., 2005).
As a reminder, INRA96 is composed of a salt and sugar solution and the purified fraction of milk proteins, or NPC (native phosphocaseinate). It also contains antibiotics at the usual concentrations (50UI/mL of penicillin and 50µg/mL of gentamicin), as well as an antifungal agent, amphotericin B (0.25µg/mL) (Batellier et al., 1997).
