<![CDATA[This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Quercetin role and liquid nitrogen vapor equilibration time on the post-thawed semen quality of Merino Rams. Semen collected from four rams was processed using a completely randomized factorial design (4 × 3) with quercetin concentrations (0, 30, 60, and 90 ?M) and three vapor equilibration durations at a height of 10 cm (5, 10, and 15 min). The evaluated semen quality parameters included individual motility, viability, morphological abnormalities, and Intact Plasma Membrane (IPM). The results showed that, before freezing, supplementation with 60 ?M quercetin (P < 0.01) maintained significantly higher individual motility than supplementation with the other concentrations. Post-thawing process, both quercetin concentration and equilibration duration significantly (P<0.05) influenced sperm functional parameters. The combination of 60 ?M quercetin with a 15-min equilibration time produced the best performance, with motility of 55.00 ± 2.74%, viability of 93.31 ± 2.06%, and plasma membrane integrity of 37.22 ± 7.90%. PCA revealed that in the before-freezing phase, PC1 (37.23%) was mainly associated with abnormalities and membrane integrity, while PC2 (28.44%) was influenced by viability and motility, explaining 65.67% of the total variance. In the post- thawing phase, PC1 (46.0%) was characterized by motility and membrane integrity, whereas PC2 (21.63%) was associated with abnormalities and plasma membrane integrity, with a cumulative variance of 67.63%. In conclusion, the combination of 60 ?M quercetin and a 15-min vapor equilibration time represents the most effective protocol for preserving individual motility and plasma membrane integrity in frozen Merino ram semen.]]>
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