Table 1.

Summary of the effects of the Ferula genus on sexual function and improvement of sperm parameters

Species name	Extract/part used/ dose(s)	Animal	Study	Effects
Sperm parameters	Water extract/root/0.025 mL/100 g of Ferula hermonis	Rats	Hanafi et al. (2010) [33]	Sperm factors and testosterone levels improved.
	Aqueous root extract/3 mg/kg of F. hermonis	Mice	Khleifat et al. (2001) [39]	Sperm motility was reduced, and sperm abnormalities increased.
	Root extract/100–200 mg of F. hermonis	Duck	Al-Salhie et al. (2019) [34]	Weight and volume of the testes and concentrations of LH, FSH, and testosterone increased in the 200 mg group.
	Alcoholic/roots (0.03 mL/50 mL) of F. hermonis	Holstein bulls	Abdulkareem et al. (2018) [35]	The percentages of sperm tail abnormalities decreased for all preservation periods (2, 30, and 60 days after freezing).
	1% concentration extract of Ferula elaeochytris	Redfish	Inanan et al. (2021) [62]	Improved sperm parameters
	Aqueous extract of gum/50, 100, 200 mg/kg of Ferula assa-foetida	Rats	Bagheri et al. (2015) [54]	Increased sperm motility and improved sperm morphology
	0.025/100 g methanol root extract of F. hermonis	Rats	Girgis et al. (2021) [37]	The sperm indices and testosterone level improved.
	Ethanolic root extract 0.2% percent of Ferula communis	Fish	Koca et al. (2021) [68]	The seminiferous lobules were larger, with considerably more sperm.
	3 kg of F. assa-foetida seeds	Snowflake rams	O’g’li (2019) [51]	Sperm concentration increased by 20%, number of live sperm by 80%, and motility by 19.6%.
	Aqueous of gum extract/50–100 mg/kg of F. assa-foetida	Rats	Selyametovich et al. (2022) [52]	Improved quantitative and qualitative sperm indicators
	50 mg/kg hydroalcoholic extract of seeds of F. assa-foetida	Rats	Manayi et al. (2017) [56]	Improved sperm count, morphology, and motility and increased testosterone and LH levels.
Sexual function	Essential oil of seeds/0.05, 0.5–2 g/kg of F. hermonis	Rats	El-Thaher et al. (2001) [42]	Improved penile erection at 0.05, 0.5–2 g/kg
	30 and 60 mg/kg of F. hermonis	Rats	Zanoli et al. (2003) [43]	Increased the sexual motivation of normal animals with acute improvements in sluggish/impotent male rats.
	Ferutinin, teferdin, and teferin in an acute (2.5 mg/kg) and sub-chronic (0.25 mg/kg) regimen of F. hermonis	Rats	Zanoli et al. (2005) [46]	Ferutinin and teferdin reduced mount and intromission latencies and shortened the ejaculation latency only in acute form.
	Seeds and 50% water-ethanol extracts of roots of F. assa-foetida	Rats and men	Kassis et al. (2009) [57]	Increased erection in rats and humans. Improved sperm count in people with untreatable azoospermia and incomplete azoospermia.
	Chloroform and deacetylkellerin, elaeochytrin-A and ferutinin/10 mg/kg of Ferula huber	Rats	Aydogan et al. (2020) [14]	Chloroform extract stimulated sexual behaviors, and ferutinin had the most effective aphrodisiac effect.
	Methanol root extract/40 and 60 mg/kg of F. elaeochytris	Rats	Eser et al. (2020) [61]	Significantly improved sexual parameters including ICP, testicular weight, and spermatogenesis.
	Root extract/40 and 20 mg/kg of F. elaeochytris	Older rats	Eser et al. (2020) [63]	Improved penile neuronal nitric oxide synthase, serum testosterone, and ICP/MAP.
	CHCl3 fraction (200 mg/kg) of Ferula drudeana and feselol, samarcandin, and 3′-O-acetyl samarcandin	Rats	Alqarni et al. (2020) [65]	Increased mount frequency and intromission frequency, ejaculation latency, and postejaculatory interval. Samarcandin showed a particularly strong aphrodisiac effect.
	600 mg/kg/root extract (petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, methanol, and water) of F. hermonis	Rats	Hadidi et al. (2003) [36]	Petroleum ether and ethyl acetate extracts decreased MR, IR, and IL. Methanolic extract increased MR and water extract and decreased IL only.

LH, luteinizing hormone; FSH, follicle-stimulating hormone; ICP, intracavernosal pressure; MAP, mean arterial pressure; MR, mount rate; IR, intromission rate; IL, intromission latency.