Abstract

The mengkudu (Morinda citrifolia Linn.) plant is a well known medicinal plant. The fruits, leaves and roots of this plant have been widely used in traditional medicine. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an aqueous extract of the M. citrifolia fruits (25 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg body weight given for a period of 30 days) on sperm quality and histology of testis in mice. Data from this study show that the epididymal sperm count, mortality, motility and sperm morphology in mice given the M. citrifolia fruit extract did not differ from that of the control group. Spermatogenesis was not affected by the treatment. The results obtained here suggest that the aqueous extract of the M. citrifolia fruit (up to 100 mg/kg) did not affect sperm quality and spermatogenesis in mice.
Mengkudu (Morinda citrifolia Linn.) adalah tumbuhan ubatan yang terkenal. Bahagian buah, daun dan akarnya digunakan secara meluas dalam perubatan tradisional. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan kesan pemberian ekstrak berakua buah M. citrifolia (dos 25mg/kg, 50 mg/kg dan 100 mg/kg berat tubuh mencit selama 30 hari) ke atas kuantiti sperma dan histologi testis mencit. Data daripada kajian ini menunjukkan bilangan sperma epididimis, mortaliti, motiliti dan morfologi sperma mencit kajian tidak berbeza berbanding kumpulan kawalan. Proses spermatogenesis juga tidak terjejas dengan pemberian M. citrifolia. Keputusan kajian ini mencadangkan ekstrak berakua M .citrifolia (sehingga 100 mg/kg) tidak mendatangkan kesan terhadap kualiti sperma dan spermatogenesis mencit.