EXPLORING THE ROLE OF WIDELY USED MEDICINAL PLANTS IN MALE AND FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND ANTI-INFERTILITY ACTIVITY

S. Justin Raj* and Greeshma V. John

Infertility, defined as the inability to conceive after one year of intercourse without the use of contraception, affects 15% of couples. This review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the medicinal plants used historically to treat male and female infertility by various tribes and ethnic groupings. By looking through academic publications and textbooks and contacting globally renowned scientific databases, we carried out an extensive analysis of the scientific literature. To locate pertinent publications published in journals indexed by the Information Sciences Institute, CENTRAL, Embase, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Scientific Information Databases were employed for infertile couples, plants offer an accessible and reasonably priced therapeutic alternative, and phytotherapy is a crucial component of our healthcare system. However, a large percentage of medicinal plants used traditionally to treat male reproductive diseases have not yet been scientifically examined, and herbal products are still utilized anarchically in many regions and countries. Numerous medicinal plants, including Apium graveolens, Asparagus racemousus, Cassia alata, Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Fumaria officinalis, Fumaria parviflora, Moringa oleifera, Nigella sativa, Withania somnifera, and Zingiber officinale, have been reviewed in this paper based on research on their use in the reproductive systems of both male and female. This evaluation establishes a strong basis for future research on the effectiveness of plants that are now utilized in conventional anti-infertility medications.