1Medicinal Plant Research Laboratory Department of Botany, Ramjas College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007, India
2Department of Chemistry, Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110003, India
*Corresponding author e-mail: suresh.kumar@ramjas.du.ac.in
Online published on 26 December, 2023.
Reproductive disorders are a significant cause of concern for sexual dysfunction. Conventional therapies are limited due to pharmaceutical expenses and side effects. Medicinal plants are frequently investigated for pharmacological and clinical aspects. This review investigated the scientific exploration of medicinal plants used for various reproductive disorders such as infertility. The study was done on the basis of ethnobotanical surveys available in the literature, and the uses of medicinal plants for the treatment of male and female infertility. Further investigation involved the identification of 71 medicinal plant species used in the ethnobotanical survey. Among them, 49 plant species extracts (69%) were investigated for their pharmacological studies, and five species were clinically evaluated using different animal model systems against various reproductive disorders. It was concluded that medicinal plants are helpful in the treatment of folliculogenesis, ovulation, fertility, sperm counts, steroidogenesis, libido absence, menorrhagia, and several other reproductive disorders. This review can serve as a basis for future studies to increase the number of clinical trials to confirm their benefits as well as their side effects on reproductive health.
Clinical trials, Pharmacology, Ethnobotany, Infertility
