A number of semen manipulative techniques are currently available to remove the undesirable spermatozoa, debris and other factors and to increase sperm quality. The use of motility stimulants such as caffeine or others could optimize the recovery and quality of frozen-thawed spermatozoa processed by a variety of sperm selection techniques. Frozen-thawed specimens from 5 bulls were slowly diluted and washed with Ham's F-10 medium containing 3% BSA (w/v) and 0 or 2 mM caffeine. Aliquots containing approximately 50 x 10(6) total sperm cells were used for conventional sperm wash, swim-up, Percoll density gradient centrifugation (80, 70, 55 and 40% Percoll gradients) and Sephadex (SpermPrep I) filtration. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of selected spermatozoa included: total sperm (x 10(6)), percentage and grade (0 to 4) of motility, percentage of spermatozoa with coiled tails and response to the hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test (percentage of swollen spermatozoa). When compared to washed specimens, fewer spermatozoa were recovered via the swim-up, Percoll and SpermPrep I filtration methods. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of these spermatozoa improved further after processing with Ham's F-10 containing 2 mM caffeine, followed by selection via the various techniques. Enhancement of sperm motility, in conjunction with the most appropriate sperm selection technique, represents an efficient method for the recovery of spermatozoa with improved qualitative characteristics.