Pine Pollen Studies, and What They Found in Men

Most pages about pine pollen quote the same two or three lines and never tell you who ran the work, how many men took part or what the numbers were. This page lists the pine pollen studies men ask about, with the year, the journal and the result in each case. It starts with a 1971 lab paper, where testosterone was first found in a plant, and ends with two pilot trials in men published in 2024 and 2025. For the plant itself (where it grows, its history in China and Korea, how the pollen is gathered), read our full guide to pine pollen.

Pine pollen studies at a glance

• 1971, Experientia: testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione isolated from Scots pine pollen.
• 1996, Zhao: protein measured at about 13% of the pollen.
• 2009, Phytotherapy Research: pine pollen extract tested for antioxidant activity in the lab.
• 2024, Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports: 10 men aged 47 to 78, eight weeks on a pine pollen tincture.
• 2025, same journal: 11 men aged 25 to 50, eight weeks on a pine pollen tincture.

1971. The first plant with testosterone in it

Šaden-Krehula, Tajić and Kolbah published a short paper in the Swiss journal Experientia (volume 27, pages 108 to 109). They tested pollen from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and identified three androgens in it: testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione. It was the first time testosterone had been isolated from any plant. Šaden-Krehula and Tajić came back to steroid hormones in pine pollen in a 1987 paper in Pharmazie.

This 1971 paper is the reason men started looking at pine pollen at all. Every later pine pollen testosterone study traces back to it.

The 2024 pine pollen testosterone study

Wolkodoff, Haase, Mordkin and Beal ran an eight-week open-label pilot, published as "Pine Pollen Impacts Testosterone-Related Symptoms in Older Men: A Pilot Report" in the Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports (volume 14, 2024). The men were 47 to 78 years old, with an average age of 63. Each took 1 mL of pine pollen tincture a day (about 300 mg of pollen extract), half in the morning and half in the evening, five days on and two days off.

Average total testosterone went from 362.5 ng/dL to 448.4 ng/dL, a rise of 85.9 ng/dL in eight weeks.

The team also used the qADAM, a 10-question survey that scores how a man feels about his energy, drive, strength, mood and erections, on a scale from 9 to 45. A score of 27 counts as average. The group started below that, at 23.9, and finished above it, at 31.7 (p = 0.0035). This is the closest thing to a pine pollen clinical trial in men that exists so far, and it measured both blood work and how the men felt.

Younger men, 2025

The same researchers ran a second eight-week pilot in younger men, published in May 2025 as "Pine Pollen Impacts Hypogonadal Symptoms in Younger Men with Variations in Androgen Levels" (Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, volume 14). Eleven men aged 25 to 50 finished it, average age 40. They took the same 1 mL tincture each day, split morning and evening, held under the tongue.

The result that stood out was in free testosterone, the share of testosterone that isn't bound up in the blood. It rose from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL, about 12% (p = 0.0427). Sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), the protein that binds testosterone and holds it, fell from 29.1 to 27.4 nmol/L (p = 0.0016). Less SHBG and more free testosterone moved together, which is the pattern you would expect to see.

The men also filled in a 10-item survey built from the qADAM and two erection questionnaires (SHIM and IIEF). The composite score climbed from 28.36 to 39.55. The sexual function part went from 15.27 to 20.09, and the quality of life part from 13.09 to 19.45.

What men report

Outside the studies, men who take pine pollen most often report two things: stronger morning wood and more drive, both in the gym and in the bedroom. Those are the same areas the qADAM and SHIM questions ask about, and the same areas where scores rose in both pilots. If you want the men's side of it in more detail, our post on pine pollen for men covers how guys fit it into training and their day.

Why both trials used a tincture

Look at the method sections again. Neither study gave men powder or capsules. Both used a pine pollen tincture, 1 mL a day, and the 2025 trial had men hold it under the tongue. That is the form Mara sells.

Each pine pollen grain has a hard outer wall made of sporopollenin. Our Pinus radiata pollen is wild-harvested and cracked-cell, so that wall is broken before extraction. Then it is made spagyric. The pollen is extracted, the plant material left over is reduced to its minerals, and those minerals go back into the liquid. What ends up in the bottle is the whole pollen, extract and minerals together.

Pine Pollen – Spagyric Pine Pollen Tincture

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

Add to bag

Using it takes about 30 seconds. Fill the dropper, hold it under your tongue for 20 to 30 seconds, swallow. Or stir it into water, coffee or a shake before training. One to two droppers a day, and a 50 ml bottle lasts 30 to 50 days. The taste is soft and lightly earthy, with a faint sweetness.

The glass counts too. Light breaks down plant extracts over time. Dark amber glass is a step in the right direction, but dark Miron glass is the gold standard, and it is what Mara uses for every bottle of Pine Pollen.

Other pine pollen research

Not all pine pollen research is about hormones. A 1996 analysis by Zhao put protein at about 13% of the pollen by weight. Pine pollen has been eaten as a food in China and Korea for centuries.

In 2009, Lee, Kim and Choi in Korea tested a pine pollen extract in the lab for Phytotherapy Research (volume 23). The extract scavenged free radicals more strongly as the dose went up, and in immune cells it lowered nitric oxide and TNF-alpha, two markers of inflammation.

Behind all of this sits a long record of use. Pine pollen (松花粉, song hua fen) appears in Chinese herbal texts from the Tang dynasty and is listed in the 2020 Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In Korea it goes into songhwa dasik, small pressed tea cakes.

Pine Pollen considerations

The recommendation on the product page: "Contains alcohol. If you're pregnant, nursing or taking medication, ask your doctor before using it."

Questions people ask

Are there human studies on pine pollen?

Yes. Two pilot trials in men were published in the Annals of Clinical and Medical Case Reports, one in 2024 with 10 men aged 47 to 78 and one in 2025 with 11 men aged 25 to 50. Both ran for eight weeks on a daily pine pollen tincture.

How much did testosterone go up in the pine pollen study?

In the 2024 study, average total testosterone rose from 362.5 to 448.4 ng/dL over eight weeks. In the 2025 study, free testosterone rose from 10.48 to 11.72 ng/dL.

Who first found testosterone in pine pollen?

Šaden-Krehula, Tajić and Kolbah, in a 1971 paper in Experientia. They isolated testosterone, epitestosterone and androstenedione from Scots pine pollen.

How long did the men in the studies take it?

Eight weeks in both trials, at 1 mL a day, split between morning and evening.