Pine Pollen Male Fertility and Sperm Count (What the Studies Found)

Pine pollen is the male half of a pine tree's reproduction, so it makes sense that men looking into their own fertility end up reading about it. If you typed "pine pollen male fertility" into Google, you probably want three things: what is in the pollen, what happened when men took it, and how to take it. Here are the numbers, with the names of the people who measured them.

What pine pollen is

Every spring, the small male cones on a pine release clouds of yellow pollen. Each grain carries two air sacs, which let the wind lift it far enough to reach the female cones of another tree. The grain's job is to deliver the tree's male cells. A single grain is a fraction of a millimetre across, and the wall around it is tough enough that "cracked cell" pollen (pollen with the wall broken open) is what most extract makers start from.

For a full background on the plant, the harvest and the forms it comes in, read our complete guide to pine pollen.

Pine pollen male fertility studies, by the numbers

1971, testosterone found in a plant for the first time

In 1971 the journal Experientia published work by Šaden-Krehula and colleagues on the pollen of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). They isolated testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione from it. It was the first time testosterone had been identified in a plant. Their figures were 80 nanograms of testosterone, 110 nanograms of epitestosterone and 590 nanograms of androstenedione per gram of pollen.

Fish fed pine pollen became mostly male

Nile tilapia fry decide their sex in their first weeks, and fish farmers usually push them toward male with a synthetic steroid, 17α-methyltestosterone. Two teams tried pine pollen in its place. In Bangladesh, Aziz and colleagues (Aquaculture, Fish and Fisheries, 2022) fed two-day-old fry Pinus massoniana pollen for 28 days. At 1.0% of the feed, 92.5% of the fish came out male, against 89.49% in the groups given the synthetic steroid. In Uganda, Abaho and colleagues (Aquaculture Reports, 2022) fed tilapia pine pollen for 28 days. At 1.28 g per kg of feed, 80.0% were male, compared with 50.8% in fish fed no pollen.

Two pilot studies in men

Wolkodoff, Haase, Mordkin and Beal ran the first human pilot, published in Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports in September 2024. Ten men aged 47 to 78 took a pine pollen tincture (half a dropper morning and evening, five days on and two days off) for 8 weeks. Their average total testosterone went from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL. One man went from 282 to 703. Their average score on the qADAM, a questionnaire on male hormone symptoms, rose from 23.9 to 31.7.

The same group followed with younger men in 2025. Eleven men with an average age of 40 used the same tincture on the same schedule for 8 weeks. Free testosterone, the share that is not bound up in the blood, rose from an average 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL. SHBG, the protein that binds testosterone, fell from 29.1 to 27.4 nmol/L. The sexual function part of their questionnaire, covering erection confidence, firmness and satisfaction, went from 15.27 to 20.09.

Does pine pollen increase sperm count?

The two pilot studies in men measured blood hormones and symptom questionnaires over 8 weeks, and did not take semen samples. So the published figures for men are hormone figures: total testosterone up from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL in the older group, free testosterone up from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL and SHBG down in the younger group, and sexual function scores up by almost 5 points.

What men say after a few weeks

The reports that come up again and again on forums and in men's health groups are stronger morning wood and more drive, usually noticed somewhere in the first few weeks. Both pilot papers describe the same direction. In the 2024 study, every man's qADAM score went up, and the 2025 paper recorded more men scoring above average on sexual function at the end (10 of 11) than at the start (6 of 11).

If you want the wider picture for men (training, energy, age), our post on pine pollen for men goes through it.

Why a spagyric tincture

Both pilot studies used a tincture, half a dropper at a time. That is the form Mara makes, from wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen.

Spagyric extraction has two steps. The pollen is extracted into liquid first. Then the plant material left behind is reduced to its minerals, and those minerals go back into the liquid, so the whole pollen ends up in the bottle.

Pine Pollen – Spagyric Pine Pollen Tincture

50 ml dropper bottle. Wild-harvested, cracked-cell Pinus radiata pollen.

Add to bag

• Dose: 1 to 2 droppers a day, held under the tongue or stirred into water, juice, coffee or a smoothie.
• Taste: soft and lightly earthy, with a faint sweetness.
• Bottle life: 30 to 50 days at 1 to 2 droppers a day.
• Glass: dark Miron glass. Dark amber is a step in the right direction, and Miron is the gold standard, because it keeps light off the extract.
• Simple ingredients: premium quality extract.

A 50 ml bottle sits in a gym bag or a desk drawer, and a dropper in your morning coffee takes about ten seconds. Powder needs measuring, mixing and a shaker, and it sits open to air every time you scoop it.

Song hua fen, 1,367 years on the record

Chinese herbalists call it 松花粉, song hua fen. The Xinxiu Bencao (Newly Revised Materia Medica), completed in 659 CE under the Tang dynasty, recorded it as "song huang", pine yellow. Later texts describe mountain families gathering it each spring, then pressing it with sugar into cakes. It is still in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 edition), sourced from Pinus massoniana, Pinus tabuliformis and related pines. In Korea, the pollen goes into songhwa dasik tea cakes and songhwa-milsu, a pollen and honey drink.

Pine Pollen considerations

Contains alcohol. If you're pregnant, nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it.

Questions men ask about pine pollen

What are the pine pollen male benefits men report?

The most common reports are stronger morning wood and more drive. In the 2025 pilot, sexual function scores went from 15.27 to 20.09 over 8 weeks.

How long did men take pine pollen in the studies?

Eight weeks in both the 2024 and 2025 pilots. They took half a dropper morning and evening, five days on and two days off each week.

How much testosterone is in pine pollen?

Šaden-Krehula measured 80 nanograms of testosterone per gram of Scots pine pollen in 1971, plus 590 nanograms of androstenedione. It was the first plant in which testosterone was found.

How do you take pine pollen tincture?

Take 1 to 2 droppers a day under the tongue, or stir it into a drink. A 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days.