Semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic
Semen is also a form of
Physiology
Fertilization
Depending on the species, spermatozoa can fertilize ova externally or internally. In external fertilization, the spermatozoa fertilize the ova directly, outside of the female's sexual organs. Female fish, for example, spawn ova into their aquatic environment, where they are fertilized by the semen of the male fish.
During internal fertilization, however, fertilization occurs inside the female's sexual organs. Internal fertilization takes place after insemination of a female by a male through copulation. In most vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, birds and monotreme mammals, copulation is achieved through the physical mating of the cloaca of the male and female.[1] In marsupial and placental mammals, copulation occurs through the vagina.[2]
Human
Composition
During the process of
Seminal plasma of humans contains a complex range of
The seminal plasma provides a nutritive and protective medium for the spermatozoa during their journey through the female reproductive tract. The normal environment of the
The components and contributions of semen are as follows:
Gland(s) | Approximate fraction | Description |
testes |
2–5% | Approximately 200 million to 500 million spermatozoa (also called sperm or spermatozoans), produced in the testes, are released per ejaculation. If a man has undergone a vasectomy , he will have no sperm in the ejaculate.
|
seminal vesicles | 65–75% | citrate, enzymes, flavins, fructose (2–5 mg per mL semen,[5] the main energy source of sperm cells, which rely entirely on sugars from the seminal plasma for energy), phosphorylcholine, prostaglandins (involved in suppressing an immune response by the female against the foreign semen), proteins, vitamin C .
|
prostate | 25–30% | proteolytic enzymes, zinc. (The zinc level is about 135±40 μg/mL for healthy men.[6] Zinc serves to help to stabilize the DNA-containing chromatin in the sperm cells. A zinc deficiency may result in lowered fertility because of increased sperm fragility. Zinc deficiency can also adversely affect spermatogenesis .)
|
bulbourethral glands |
< 1% | Galactose, mucus (serve to increase the mobility of sperm cells in the vagina and cervix by creating a less viscous channel for the sperm cells to swim through, and preventing their diffusion out of the semen. Contributes to the cohesive jelly-like texture of semen), pre-ejaculate, sialic acid. |
A 1992 World Health Organization report described normal human semen as having a volume of 2 mL or greater, pH of 7.2 to 8.0, sperm concentration of 20×106 spermatozoa/mL or more, sperm count of 40×106 spermatozoa per ejaculate or more, and motility of 50% or more with forward progression (categories a and b) of 25% or more with rapid progression (category a) within 60 minutes of ejaculation.[7]
A 2005 review of the literature found that the average reported physical and chemical properties of human semen were as follows:[8]
Property | Per 100 mL | In average volume (3.4 mL) |
---|---|---|
Calcium (mg) | 27.6 | 0.938 |
Chloride (mg) | 142 | 4.83 |
Citrate (mg) | 528 | 18.0 |
Fructose (mg) | 272 | 9.25 |
Glucose (mg) | 102 | 3.47 |
Lactic acid (mg) | 62 | 2.11 |
Magnesium (mg) | 11 | 0.374 |
Potassium (mg) | 109 | 3.71 |
Protein (mg) | 5,040 | 171 |
Sodium (mg) | 300 | 10.2 |
Urea (mg) | 45 | 1.53 |
Zinc (mg) | 16.5 | 0.561 |
Buffering capacity (β)
|
25 | |
mOsm )
|
354 | |
pH | 7.7 | |
Viscosity (cP) | 3–7 | |
Volume (mL) | 3.4 | |
Values for average volume have been calculated and rounded to three significant figures. All other values are those given in the review. |
Appearance and consistency
Semen is typically translucent with white, grey or even yellowish tint. Blood in the semen can cause a pink or reddish colour, known as hematospermia, and may indicate a medical problem which should be evaluated by a doctor if the symptom persists.[9]
After ejaculation, the latter part of the ejaculated semen
A 2005 review found that the average reported viscosity of human semen in the literature was 3–7 centipoises (cP), or, equivalently, millipascal-seconds (mPa·s).[8]
Quality
Semen quality is a measure of the ability of semen to accomplish fertilization. Thus, it is a measure of fertility in a man. It is the sperm in the semen that is the fertile component, and therefore semen quality involves both sperm quantity and sperm quality.[14]
Quantity
The volume of semen ejaculate varies but is generally about 1 teaspoonful or less. A review of 30 studies concluded that the average was around 3.4 milliliters (mL), with some studies finding amounts as high as 5.0 mL or as low as 2.3 mL.
Storage
Semen can be stored in diluents such as the Illini Variable Temperature (IVT) diluent, which have been reported to be able to preserve high fertility of semen for over seven days.[16] The IVT diluent is composed of several salts, sugars and antibacterial agents and gassed with CO2.[16]
Semen cryopreservation can be used for far longer storage durations. For human sperm, the longest reported successful storage with this method is 21 years.[17]
Health
Infection transmission
Semen can transmit many
Bloodiness
The presence of blood in semen or
Allergy
In rare circumstances, humans can develop an allergy to semen, called human seminal plasma sensitivity. It appears as a typical localized or systemic allergic response upon contact with seminal fluid. There is no one protein in semen responsible for the reaction. Symptoms can appear after first intercourse or after subsequent intercourse. A semen allergy can be distinguished from a latex allergy by determining if the symptoms disappear with use of a condom. Desensitization treatments are often very successful.[25][26]
Benefits to females
Among numerous species in the animal kingdom, females may benefit from absorbing nutrients and proteins from seminal fluid for food, antiviral and antibacterial properties, and enhanced fertilisation. In humans, seminal fluid provides anti-viral activity towards
Society and culture
Qigong
The scientific term for semen in Chinese is 精液 (pinyin: jīng yè, literally: fluid of essence/jing) and the term for sperm is 精子 (pinyin: jīng zǐ, literally: basic element of essence/jing), two modern terms with classical referents.
Indian philosophy
In Ayurveda, semen is said to be made from forty drops of blood. It is considered to be the end of the food digestion cycle.[29]
One of the key aspects of
Many yogic texts also indicate the importance of semen retention and there are specific asanas and Bandhas for it like Mula Bandana and Aswini Mudra.[30]
Greek philosophy
In Ancient Greece, Aristotle remarked on the importance of semen: "For Aristotle, semen is the residue derived from nourishment, that is of blood, that has been highly concocted to the optimum temperature and substance. This can only be emitted by the male as only the male, by nature of his very being, has the requisite heat to concoct blood into semen."[31] According to Aristotle, there is a direct connection between food and semen: "Sperms are the excretion of our food, or to put it more clearly, as the most perfect component of our food."[32]
The connection between food and physical growth, on the one hand, and semen, on the other, allows Aristotle to warn against "engag[ing] in sexual activity at too early an age ... [since] this will affect the growth of their bodies. Nourishment that would otherwise make the body grow is diverted to the production of semen. Aristotle is saying that at this stage the body is still growing; it is best for sexual activity to begin when its growth is 'no longer abundant', for when the body is more or less at full height, the transformation of nourishment into semen does not drain the body of needed material."[33]
Additionally, "Aristotle tells us that the region round the eyes was the region of the head most fruitful of seed ("most seedy" σπερματικώτατος), pointing to generally recognised effects upon the eyes of sexual indulgence and to practices which imply that seed comes from liquid in the region of the eyes."
Greek Stoic philosophy conceived of the Logos spermatikos ("seminal word") as the principle of active reason that fecundated passive matter.[36] The Jewish philosopher Philo similarly spoke in sexual terms of the Logos as the masculine principle of reason that sowed seeds of virtue in the feminine soul.[37]
The Christian Platonist Clement of Alexandria likened the Logos to physical blood[38] as the "substance of the soul",[39] and noted that some held "that the animal semen is substantially foam of its blood".[40] Clement reflected an early Christian view that "the seed ought not be wasted nor scattered thoughtlessly nor sown in a way it cannot grow."[41]
Women were believed to have their own version, which was stored in the womb and released during climax. Retention was believed to cause female hysteria.[42]
In
Reverence
In some
The
In a number of mythologies around the world, semen is often considered analogous to breast milk. In the traditions of Bali, it is considered to be the returning or refunding of the milk of the mother in an alimentary metaphor. The wife feeds her husband who returns to her his semen, the milk of human kindness.[49]
Nancy Friday's book, Men in Love – Men's Sexual Fantasies: The Triumph of Love over Rage (1982), suggests that swallowing semen is high on a man's intimacy scale.[50]
Espionage
When the British
Ingestion
Spiritual
The Borborites, also known as the Phibionites, were an early Christian Gnostic sect during the late fourth century AD whose alleged practices involving sacred semen are described by the early Christian heretic-hunter Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion.[52][53][54][55] Epiphanius claims that the Borborites had a sacred text called the Greater Questions of Mary, which contained an episode in which, during a post-resurrection appearance, Jesus took Mary Magdalene to the top of a mountain, where he pulled a woman out of his side and engaged in sexual intercourse with her.[53][52][55] Then, upon ejaculating, Jesus drank his own semen and told Mary, "Thus we must do, that we may live."[53][52][55] Upon hearing this, Mary instantly fainted, to which Jesus responded by helping her up and telling her, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"[53][55] This story was supposedly the basis for the Borborite Eucharist ritual, in which they allegedly engaged in orgies and drank semen and menstrual blood as the "body and blood of Christ" respectively.[52][55][53] Bart D. Ehrman, a scholar of early Christianity, casts doubt on the accuracy of Epiphanius's summary, commenting that "the details of Epiphanius's description sound very much like what you can find in the ancient rumor mill about secret societies in the ancient world".[52]
In some cultures, semen is considered to have special properties associated with
Semen ingestion has had central importance in some cultures around the world. In Baruya culture, there is a secret ritual in which boys give fellatio to young males and drink their semen, to "re-engender themselves before marriage".[59]
Sexual
There are several sexual practices involving the ingestion of semen, which may be done with one or more partners. Practices involving the oral intake of semen include:
- Felching is a sexual practice involving the act of sucking semen out of the anus of one's partner. According to the entry for "felch" in the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest occurrence of the word in print appears to have been in The Argot of the Homosexual Subculture by Ronald A. Farrell in 1972, although this usage was as a synonym for anilingus.[60]
- Gokkun (ごっくん) is a Japanese term for sexual activity in which a person, usually a woman, consumes the semen of one or more men, often from some kind of container.[61] "Gokkun" can also refer to the sexual act of swallowing semen after performing fellatio or participating in a bukkake.[61][62] The word "gokkun" is onomatopoetic, and translates roughly as the English word "gulp", the sound made by swallowing.[63]
- Cum swapping / snowballing / snowdropping is the sexual practice in which one person takes someone's semen into their mouth and then passes it to the mouth of the person who ejaculated the semen, usually through
Euphemisms
A huge variety of euphemisms and dysphemisms have been invented to describe semen. For a list of terms, see sexual slang.
Slang terms for semen include cum, jizz, spunk (primarily
See also
References
- ISBN 978-1-4615-4937-6. Archivedfrom the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
- S2CID 6745690.
- ^ a b Mann, T (1954). The Biochemistry of Semen. London: Methuen & Co; New York: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ISBN 0-7216-3994-1.
- S2CID 4029810.
- PMID 3570537.
- ISBN 0-521-64599-9. Archivedfrom the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ PMID 15955884.
- ^ "HealthCentral.com - Trusted, Reliable and Up To Date Health Information". Archived from the original on 17 April 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ^ .
- ^ Dean, Dr. John. "Semen and sperm quality". Archived from the original on November 10, 2000. Retrieved December 7, 2006.
- S2CID 53201940.
- PMID 12525533.
- from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
- PMID 12202443.
- ^ PMID 9627729.
- ^ "Child born after 21 year semen storage using Planer controlled rate freezer" (Press release). Planer. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
- ^ S2CID 12955573.
- ^ "Doctors sweat over whether Ebola positive man spread virus". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- ISBN 0-07-140279-9p151
- ISBN 978-0495391920. Archivedfrom the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
- PMID 2619413.
- PMID 29048276.
- Center for Disease Control. 2022-07-05. Archivedfrom the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
- S2CID 4243175.
- PMID 21913207.
- ^ Qigong Bible, Chapter #8 Archived 2013-11-09 at the Wayback Machine, by Gary J. Clyman. Contribution To Clyman's Book by Frank Ranz, January 1989
- ^ "Home". hunyuantaijiacademy.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
- ^ "Shukra Dhatu: A Closer Look at Reproductive Tissue from the Ayurvedic Perspective". 15 July 2013. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ "Ashwini Mudra, How to do | Mudra Science". Archived from the original on 2019-12-31. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
- ^ Salmon, J.B.; L. Foxhall (1998). Thinking Men: Masculinity and Its Self-representation in the Classical Tradition. Routledge. p. 158.
- PMID 14990517.
- ISBN 978-0-19-875114-4. Archivedfrom the original on November 28, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ISBN 0-405-04853-X.
- ISBN 978-0-511-21763-0. Archivedfrom the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-10-24.
- ISBN 0-8028-4913-X.
- ISBN 0-87728-947-6. Archivedfrom the original on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2010-01-17.
- ^ "And that the blood is the Word, is testified by the blood of Abel, the righteous interceding with God." Clement of Alexandria, The Paedagogus, 1, 47. Archived 2010-09-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cf. Leviticus 17:14; Clement of Alexandria, The Paedagogus, 1, 39.
- ^ Clement of Alexandria, The Paedagogus, 1, 48.
- ^ Clement of Alexandria, The Paedagogus, 2, 91. See also: Onan.
- ISBN 9780393334791.
- ^ Parker, Robert. 1996. Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion. Oxford University Press.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-134-92074-7, archivedfrom the original on 2021-04-14, retrieved 2018-01-03
- ISBN 978-0-02-861207-2.
- ISBN 0-300-07278-3. Archivedfrom the original on 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ ISBN 978-0313294976
- ISBN 0-06-250923-3. Retrieved February 23, 2007.
- OCLC 224223971.[page needed]
- ISBN 978-0-440-15903-2
- Independent.co.uk. 28 October 1999. Archivedfrom the original on 2019-08-31. Retrieved 2017-09-11.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-530013-0.
Ehrman to you as apostles.
- ^ a b c d e Epiphanius of Salamis 26.8.1-3
- ISBN 978-0-472-11954-7. Archivedfrom the original on 2022-01-25. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4411-9602-6, archivedfrom the original on 2022-01-25, retrieved 2020-10-28
- ^ Robert T. Francoeur, Raymond J. Noonan (2004) The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality Archived 2017-01-17 at the Wayback Machine p.819
- ^ Hank Hyena (September 16, 1999). "Semen Warriors Of New Guinea". Archived from the original on 2015-04-20.
- ISBN 0-520-08096-3. Archivedfrom the original on June 29, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ^ "New Left Review - Jack Goody: The Labyrinth of Kinship". Archived from the original on 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
- JSTOR 30029496.
- ^ ISBN 978-2-207-26120-0.
- ISBN 0-9546789-0-7.
- ^ Wilks, J. "The (Almost) Complete Japanzine Dictionary of Japan Sex". Seekjapan. Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
- ISBN 978-0-8070-4453-7. Archivedfrom the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780203962114. Archivedfrom the original on 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
- ISBN 9780415259385. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- ISBN 0-8065-2610-6. Archivedfrom the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- ^ Savage, Dan (April 24, 2003). "Snowballing". Savage Love. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- ^ Savage, Dan (October 7, 1999). "Urine Love". Savage Love. Archived from the original on July 18, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- PMID 19308715.
- ^ NG Hatfield (31 May 2008). "Proper Use of Ejaculatory Slang: Male Finishing School, Part I". Points in Case. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ISBN 978-1562012007. Archivedfrom the original on 2022-03-07. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
External links
- Grizard, G; Sion, B; Bauchart, D; Boucher, D (31 March 2000). "Separation and quantification of cholesterol and major phospholipid classes in human semen by high-performance liquid chromatography and light-scattering detection". Journal of Chromatography B: Biomedical Sciences and Applications. 740 (1): 101–7. PMID 10798299.
- SUNY Podcast – Semen study results
- Hyena, Hank (August 21, 2000). "The quest for sweet semen". Salon.