History

The phenomenon of saliva crystallization or arborization (‘fern’ phenomenon) was discovered in 1957. by C. Andreoli & Della Porta from University in Torino, Italy.

This phenomenon has been confirmed in many scientific papers and in clinical trials all over the world and it has been applied in medical practice ever since.  The method is based on the fact that in the first half of the menstrual cycle, woman’s estrogen level in saliva (and other fluids) gradually increases, reaching a maximum concentration on the day of ovulation, and then rapidly decreases.

This leads to an increased concentration of sodium chloride solution (salt). The appearance of ferns in the dried sample of saliva is, in fact, a picture of crystallized salt. Appearance of, the amount of,  and structure of the ferns corresponds to the change in concentrations of estrogen.

Due to the increased contents of estrogen hormones during the fertile days, the quality of salts in saliva rises. By means of the optical system magnifying 52 times, crystallized salts in the dry saliva sample can be seen as “fern leaves”.