semen

• sperm
• fructose
• water
• ascorbic acid (Vitamin C)
• citric acid
• various and sundry enzymes
• phosphate
• bicarbonate buffers (to maintain pH)
• zinc

Semen is what constitutes ejaculate in men. It is a mixture of sperm and secretions from the prostate gland and seminal vesicles.

Testes supply the sperm but this turns out to be, by volume, relatively little of the entire amount of semen.

According to the Re/Search Guide to Bodily Fluids (Paul Spinard, 1994), the average man produces about 3.5 mL of semen per ejaculation whose nutritional value is:

• less than 1 calorie
• 150 mg. protien
• 11 mg. carbohydrates
• 6 mg. fat.
• 3 mg. cholesterol
• 7% US RDA potassium
• 3% US RDA copper
• 3% US RDA zinc
• 300 million spermatoza

(Someday men will have to have this tattooed to the side of their hip, like a can of Coke or a box of Wheaties.)

It looks healty enough per serving size, but when compared to breast milk (which has about 170 calories per cup), semen has about 40% more calories (about 230 calories per cup).

• water
• aboutonia
• ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
• blood-group antigens
• calcium (yes, just like milk!)
• chlorine (add your own little contribution to the cleanliness of that hot tub!)
• cholesterol (I'm not sure if this is "bad cholesterol" or "good cholesterol")
• citric acid, creatine, deoxyribonucleic acid, fructose, glutathione, hyaluronidase, inositol, lactic acid, magnesium, nitrogen,
• phosphorus and potassium (what do you know, these are good for fertilization too!)
• prostaglandins (fatty acids that, while not a hormone, perform hormone-like functions)
• purine, pyrimidine, pyruvic acid
• sodium (good to have, especially if you've been sweating a lot)
• sorbitol, spermidine, spermine,
• urea, uric acid, (okay, that doesn't sound great)
• vitamin B12 and zinc (you would think this is a multivitamin).

Sources: merriam-webster.com, thriveonline.com, http://www.ivf.com.au/sperm/SfSComposition.html

Se"men (?), n.; pl. Semina (#). [L., from the root of serere, satum, to sow. See Sow to scatter seed.]

1. Bot.

The seed of plants.

2. Physiol.

The seed or fecundating fluid of male animals; sperm. It is a white or whitish viscid fluid secreted by the testes, characterized by the presence of spermatozoids to which it owes its generative power.

Semen contra, ∨ Semen cinae or cynae, a strong aromatic, bitter drug, imported from Aleppo and Barbary, said to consist of the leaves, peduncles, and unexpanded flowers of various species of Artemisia; wormseed.

© Webster 1913.