Nasibeh Roozbeh - Mother and Child Welfare Research Center, Hormozgan Universiy of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
Sahar Rostami - Department of Midwifery, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Fatemeh Abdi - Student Research Committee, Nursing and Midwifery Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Background: Male infertility is responsible for 30%-50% of all infertility cases throughout the world. Since male fertility largely depends on sperm morphology, quality, motility, and concentration, abnormalities in any of these factors may result in male infertility. Considering the potential effects of herbal medicine on male fertility, numerous studies have evaluated the fertility enhancing and infertility activity of particular herbs. The present research reviewed the findings of such studies.Methods: A comprehensive search was performed on several databases including PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, the Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR), IranMedex, the Scientific Information Database (SID), and Google Scholar. In the primary search, studies were selected if they contained the desired key terms, i.e. herbal medicine, male fertility, and male infertility Daucus carota, Dendrophthoe falcate, either alone or in combination with other names of herbal medicine. Finally, 80 papers with the most relevant topics were evaluated.Result: Based on the evaluated papers, Petroselinum crispum, Allium sativum, Matricaria chemmomilla, Crocus sativus L., Fumaria Parviflora, Origanum vulgarel L. spp. viride, and Daucus carota L. can enhance male fertility. In contrast, Curcurma Longa, Piper nigrum, Achillea millefolium L., Capparis deciduas, Centella Asiatica, Allamanda cathartica, Aegle marmelos, Tinospora cordifolia, Martynia annua, Anethum graveolens, Mistletoe, Barleriaprionitis , and Abrus precatorius have antifertility activity in men.Conclusion: Herbal medicine with fertility enhancing properties can be used as supplements or alternatives to fertility drugs in men. On the other hand, plants with antifertility activity should be avoided by infertile men.

Daucus carota, Dendrophthoe falcate, Infertility, Male fertility, Herbal medicine