Rooibus is a plant (shrub) which can be found in South Africa. It is great for making tea and contains chemical components (aspalathin) which has antimutagenic and antioxidant properties. When given to male rats (as drink in liquid form), Rooibus showed positive effects on sperm concentration, viability, and the percentage of motile sperm. In contrast, injected in the Leydig cells (for sperm production), Rooibus supressed male hormon production (anti-androgenic properties) and therefore lead to an deacrease in sperm quality. So what are the in vitro effects of rooibos extract on sperm function? José Luis Ros-Santaella and Eliana Pintus (2017) analyzed the effect of Rooibus extract on boar sperm quality. As in pig breeding industry more than 99% of artificial inseminations (AIs) in the are performed using extended semen in the liquid state and stored at 15–20°C, any admixture of chemical components which increase sperm survivability would be beneficial. They tested boar sperm velocity, membrane integrity and acrosomal (sperm”head”) status after admixture with fermented and unfermented rooibos extracts. Both, sperm velocity and acrosomal status was enhanced by (fermented) rooibus extract. This positive effect was detectable even after 96h of liquid semen storage. However, “too much of anything is bad for you” also holds for the interaction of rooibus extract and boar sperm: Too high concentration decrease sperm velocity and therefore decrease sperm quality. Taking home message: If you want to store liquid semen (of a boar) then add some rooibus extract. And if you don’t have rooibus tea at home, in that moment: Another study showed that rosemary also helps to increase the boar sperm quality. "Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) extract enhances boar sperm velocity up to 96 hours of semen storage."
Ros-Santaella JL, Pintus E (2017) PLoS ONE 12(8): e0183682.
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