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North American Fertility–Regulating Botanicals: a Review

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Abstract

Species from over a hundred genera found in North America have reported traditional uses as contraceptives or uses that suggest possible abortifacient or postcoital contraceptive activities. If any of these are both effective and relatively safe, that information ought to be preserved, both for its potential utility and because it would mean that those species are unsafe for consumers who wish to become pregnant. Biomedical literature was searched for references to bioactivities of these species relating to the reproductive system. For the vast majority of species, and often genera, no relevant scientific data were found, leaving the safety of these species unknown. Plants with strongest scientific support for contraceptive or abortifacient activity include species of Juniperus, Lithospermum, and Ricinus; the latter two are reported to have long-lasting contraceptive effects. Further research into the toxicity of products made from these species is warranted, as is initial investigation of the bioactivity of a dozen additional genera for which traditional use data are particularly suggestive.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Living Earth Collaborative of Washington University in St. Louis for supporting the second author’s participation in this project. We thank two anonymous reviewers, an Associate Editor, the Editor-in-Chief, and Tita Young for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the manuscript. Species investigated in this review were selected based on use reports in historical and ethnobotanical literature, which in turn were wholly derived from information received from Native American traditional knowledge holders whose names have largely been lost to posterity. We acknowledge and honor the fact that it is those people, presumably mostly women, who are responsible for the discovery and preservation of this information and for any future benefits to human welfare that may stem from their knowledge.

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  1. William L. Brown Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Wendy L. Applequist

  2. Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Mikayla C. Bridges

  3. University of Michigan–Dearborn, Dearborn, MI, USA

    Daniel E. Moerman

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  1. Wendy L. Applequist
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Correspondence to Wendy L. Applequist.

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Applequist, W.L., Bridges, M.C. & Moerman, D.E. North American Fertility–Regulating Botanicals: a Review. Econ Bot 76, 84–113 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-021-09532-5

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