Evaluation of early embryonic development in Kedah-Kelantan cattle using different culture dish systems

The efficiency of in vitro embryo production depends significantly on the culture system used during early development. This study examined and compared the early cleavage performance of embryos derived from 24 Kedah-Kelantan cattle under two different in vitro culture conditions: the droplet and well-of-the-well (WOW) systems. A total of 48 ovaries were retrieved from a slaughterhouse and matured in vitro before fertilisation using thawed, frozen KK semen. Following fertilisation, the embryos were divided into two culture groups and monitored for cleavage development at 24 and 48 h post-incubation. The results showed a significantly higher cleavage rate in the droplet culture system at 24 h.p.i. compared with the WOW system, with values of 11.00 ± 1.366 and 7.80 ± 0.389, respectively. At 48 h.p.i., the droplet group continued to show a slightly higher mean cleavage count (1.80 ± 1.033) than the WOW group (1.40 ± 0.70). These findings demonstrate that the droplet culture system enhanced early cleavage rates more effectively than the WOW system. However, greater variability was observed in the droplet culture system, suggesting less consistent developmental outcomes than those observed in the WOW culture system. Therefore, the choice of culture system at 48 h.p.i. favours droplet culture; however, developmental stability over a longer incubation period in Kedah-Kelantan cattle warrants further investigation.