Essential Oil Extracted from Plant Tuber of Nutgrass “Cyperus Rotundus” Effectively Decreased Sperm Quality of Mice

Abstract

Tuber extract of nutgrass (Cyperus rotundus or rumput teki), induce apoptosis in leukemia cell lines. This effect related to the essential oil content of nutgrass. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of nutgrass essential oil on the quality of sperm in mice. Mice were divided into 4 groups using a completely randomized design. Group 1 (control) received only distilled water. Groups 2, 3, and 4 received 9, 18 and 36 mg/ 30gBW essential oil, respectively for 35 days. At the end of 35 days, the total number of sperms was 51, 25.16, 16.66, and 11.83 million/ mL, and the sperm motility was 75.5%, 55.66%, 32.66% and 23.33%, in group 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively. The results showed that the nutgrass essential oil in a dose-dependent manner decreased the motility and number of sperms in mice. It is suggested that the essential oil extracted from the Cyperus rotundus tuber has the potential to be utilized as an antifertility agent.