Anti-fertility Potential of Carica papaya L. (Pawpaw) in Males

• Main Authors: Dela Cruz, Maxene Erich L., Babani, Akhisha Prakash, Lu, Arthea Julienne C., Del Rosario, Riene Kyla P., Inson, Jessamine Gail M.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2023
• Subjects: Carica papaya L.; male contraceptive; antifertility; medicinal plant; herbal contraceptive
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/conf_shsrescon/2023/poster_fnh/3; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/conf_shsrescon/article/1743/viewcontent/PoP_FNH_Babani_DelaCruz_DelRosario_Lu_Inson___Maxene_Dela_Cruz.docx.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

The use of herbal contraceptives in males as an alternative to traditional contraceptives is an increasing method of preventing unintended pregnancies in women. To prevent adverse effects of contraceptives in women such as amenorrhea, bleeding, and vaginal pain, alternative male contraceptives are recommended. This review discussed the various compounds in the Carica papaya L. (C. papaya) plant that have antifertility properties and characterized the effects of its various parts, such as the seeds, leaves, stems, fruit pulps, and roots, on the testes, spermatozoa, sperm motility, sperm morphology, seminiferous tubules, and testosterone levels of male rodents. Reliable search engines such as Web of Science, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and PubMed were used to find relevant articles for the review. The paper had no date of publication range and only used studies that evaluated the contraceptive aspect of C. papaya. The seeds, leaves, stems, roots, and fruit pulps of the papaya were found to have antifertility properties. The papaya seeds were the most studied in the aspect of fertility. The C. papaya L. was found to have various effects such as testes inflammation, destruction of seminiferous tubules, abnormal sperm morphology, low sperm motility, and low testosterone levels, which reduce fertility rate, sperm production, etc. Overall, C. papaya L. has antifertility properties and the potential to work as a male contraceptive.