Abstract
Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.; N. nucifera) is a common ingredient in traditional medicine and Thai recipes. Its petal is an agricultural waste from stamen production. There are limitations in the used and pharmacological data of the petals resulting in more petals waste. The aims of this study were to investigate the phytochemical contents, antioxidant activity, and potential effects on sperm viability of aqueous (NAE) and ethanolic extracts (NEE) of both red and white N. nucifera petals. The white NAE had the highest total phenolics content, total tannins content and maximal antioxidant activity. The white NEE had the highest concentration of total flavonoids. Quercetin was a major flavonoid and was found in the aqueous extracts. Both red and white of NAE in the range of 0.22 to 1.76 mg/mL increased sperm viability. The white NAE was prominent in phytochemical content, antioxidant activity, and both red and white NAE effectively increased rat sperm viability in the in vitro model. The white NAE enhanced sperm viability by decreasing oxidative stress. It might be suggested that the N. nucifera petals have benefits for sperm viability health promotion and may increase the economic value of agricultural waste.
Highlights
Accepted: 29 June 2021Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.; N. nucifera) is an aquatic perennial plant and belong to the Nelumbonaceae family [1]
The white nucifera petals. (NAE) significantly had the highest total phenolic content followed by the red NAE, the white NEE extract and the red NEE with the presented values 24.15 ± 1.32, 20.67 ± 1.65, 0.67 ± 0.45, and
The percentage of sperm viability significantly decreased in the white NAE at the dose of 1.76 and 3.52 mg/mL and FeSO4 when compared with the normal control group
Summary
Accepted: 29 June 2021Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn.; N. nucifera) is an aquatic perennial plant and belong to the Nelumbonaceae family [1]. The previous study reported that the male rats that received 50% ethanol extract with N. nucifera seeds showed significant decreases in reproductive organ weight, testosterone level, sperm density, sperm motility, mount frequency, and intromission frequency [4,5]. The stamens of white N. nucifera known as the Siddha drug Venthamarai magarantha chooranam could enhance libido, which increased mount frequency and intromission frequency in male rats [6]. Due to the National List of an Essential Medicine, Thailand, recognizing only the stamen of the red long flower of N. nucifera as a traditional drug [8], the stamens have high economic demand, and the petals are regarded as more agriculturale waste. The screening method reported the petals of N. nucifera contained essential phytochemical components, including phenols, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, saponin, steroid, terpenoids, cardiac glycosides, coumarin and quinone [9].
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