Antifertility effect in male rats of oleanolic acid, a triterpene from Eugenia jambolana flowers

The antifertility activity of oleanolic acid (C 30H 48O 3), isolated from the flowers of Eugenia jambolana, was evaluated in male albino rats. The administration of the compound for 60 days decreased the fertilizing capacity of the animals without any significant changes in body weight or reproductive organ weights. The compound produced arrest of spermatogenesis but did not cause any abnormality to spermatogenic cells, Leydig interstitial cells and Sertoli cells. Oleanolic acid may prove to be a promising antifertility agent devoid of undesirable side effects.