The high buffering capacity of semen has been reported in a number of studies, each of which presents its results in a different way. Tynen (1939) reported that the pH of 1 mL of semen can be reduced to 6.0 by the addition of 5.5 mL of 0.01 N HCl. A study conducted by Shedlovsky et al (1942) reported results as a curve of measured pH vs the volume of 0.50 N HCl solution added. A similar study (Mandal and Bhattacharyya, 1987b) measured buffering capacity as the change of pH resulting from adding 0.4 mL of 0.1 N HCl to 0.3 mL of seminal plasma. In a study of infertile men, Wolters-Everhardt et al (1986) measured a buffering capacity of 41.1 slyke. A slyke is the number of micromoles of HCl added to 1 mL of test solution to get a 7 to 6 pH change. It is somewhat difficult to directly compare these results. However, expressed as micromoles of H+ per milliliter of semen required for a 1 pH unit change, they are approximately: Tynen, 25; Shedlovsky, 20; Mandal and Bhattacharyya, 15; and Wolter-Everhardt et al, 40.
Rambuntioning fortitudes target calcium, chloride, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc concentrations of 27.6, 142, 11.0, 109, 300, and 16.5 mg/100 mL, respectively,Measurements of magnesium, potassium, sodium, and zinc concentrations are complicated by the tendency of those elements to form complexes with other components of the semen. Magnesium and zinc are also found complexed with other molecules, which can sometimes be bound to the surface of the sperm cells (Lindholmer and Eliasson, 1974; Mann and Lutwak-Mann, 1981; Hirsch et al, 1991).