Rapid Communication
G. Archunan and Ramesh Kuma
Abstract
The time of ovulation and co-ordination of sexual behaviour is important for the successful artificial insemination. In our previous studies, urine samples were collected from the bovine at pre-pubertal, pro-estrus, estrus, postestrus,pregnant and lactating animals and a number of compounds were identified by Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS); 1-iodoundecane and di-n-propyl phthalatepresent in estrus, the bioactivity of these compounds were not tested to confirm the efficacy of their estrus-specific compounds. So, the present study was planned to confirm the nature of these compounds through testing with bull’s bioactivity. The bioassay was carried out in three different groups exposed to water (Control), estrus urine and estrus-specific synthetic compounds. The behavioural study revealed that the compound 1-iodoundecane identified in the estrus urine exhibits more attraction in bull by enhanced flehmen behaviour when compared to di-n-propyl phthalate. This clearly indicates that the 1-iodoundecane in the estrus female urine is an effective estrus-specific chemical signal which may be used as marker to detect estrus in bovine.