Carica papaya seed extract slows human sperm Publication date: 15 September 2019 Source: Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Volume 241 Author(s): V. Ghaffarilaleh, D. Fisher, R. Henkel Abstract Ethnopharmacological relevance Traditional healers use Carica papaya seeds as a remedy for diseases and as a contraceptive for men and abortion in women. Material and methods Semen samples from 35 healthy men were allowed to liquefy and subsequently incubated for 60 min in Human Tubular Fluid medium containing 1% bovine serum albumin with aqueous C. papaya seed extract at concentrations of zero, 0.025, 0.25, 2.5, 25, 250 and 2500 μg/ml. Afterwards, sperm were washed and used for assessment of capacitation and acrosome reaction, DNA fragmentation, vitality, motility, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Results The extract showed no effects on straight-line velocity, linearity, straightness, beat-cross frequency and the percentage of capacitated, acrosome-reacted sperm. In contrast, vitality, total motility, progressive motility, curvilinear velocity, average-path velocity and the percentages of hyper-activated, ROS-positive and MMP-intact sperm decreased significantly (P < 0.05), while the percentage of DNA-fragmented sperm increased (P < 0.05). Conclusions Our data show that aqueous C. papaya seed extract significantly and negatively affects sperm motility parameters crucial for fertility; and thus, poses as a likely candidate for male contraception. Graphical abstract