Cow urine actually rocks! And we'll tell you why

Catch Team | Updated on: 10 February 2017, 1:48 IST

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We give you all the reasons why cow urine is cool. Read on...

From floor cleaner to pesticide to soap, cow urine is cooler than you think!

In the Aztec civilisation, which lasted from 13th to 15th century CE, the word for gold, Teocuitlatl, literally meant 'excrement of Gods'. And the Aztec word for urine translated to 'liquid gold'.

This scatological metamorphosis of the yellow metal, dormant for the next six centuries, has been resurrected finally in an agricultural university in Gujarat.

Junagadh Agricultural University (JAU) in Gujarat, a state-run institution meant to serve agricultural needs of the drought-prone Saurashtra region, has now found gold in cow urine. Each litre of cow urine was found to contain 10 mg of gold, said scientists from JAU after testing urine from 400 cows.

Must read: Scientists in Gujarat just found traces of gold in Gir cow urine. Wait, what?

At this point, all the Spanish conquistadors and El Dorado fanatics are kicking themselves and turning in their graves, wondering what was the point of sailing through the Atlantic and slaughtering thousands of Aztecs and Incas when they could have just come to India with nothing but a ship-load of buckets in hand?

The cows studied by JAU were from the Gir region, which houses the famous sanctuary for Asiatic Lions.

While this is probably JAU's first shot at national stardom in 12-year-old existence, it is by no means cow urine's first shot at fame.

Cow's 'liquid gold' has been tested and analysed by many others who have discovered its medical and magical properties. Here are some:

The cow urine patent

US patent number US6410059 (http://www.google.co.in/patents/US6410059) is 'Pharmaceutical composition containing cow urine distillate and an antibiotic'.

The patent is for the right amount of distilled cow urine to be added to an antibiotic to boost its antimicrobial function. It was registered in 2002 by scientists from India's Council Of Scientific And Industrial Research. "The invention relates to an absolutely novel use of cow urine distillate as activity enhancer and availability facilitator for bioactive molecules including anti-infective and anti-cancer agents."

Agriculture

Cow urine's multifaceted role in agriculture lives up to its myth og holiness - it has been recommended both as a fertiliser and a pesticide. This too has the stamp of university professors.

The Tamil Nadu Agriculture University's 'Agritech Portal' (http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/org_farm/orgfarm_pestanddisease.html) recommends spraying cow urine on vegetables to kill pests. There are three concoctions that the university recommends - one of them requires mixing half litre cow urine with half a litre sour butter milk and nine litres of water. This is to be sprayed twice a day, once in seven days. On the other hand, cow urine is used as a fertiliser as it fixes nitrogen in the soil.

Floor cleaner and more

Cow urine has been proposed as a substitute for floor cleaners like phenyl, and Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi agrees (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/cow-urine-cleaner-to-replace-phenyl-in-government-offices/1/412383.html).

It is manufactured by the Holy Cow Foundation, as well as Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurved Products.

Cow urine is supposed to be a good floor cleaner because of its antimicrobial properties, and better than phenyl because it is biodegradable.

Patanjali also prepares hair oil and one brand of soap from cow urine.

Drink up!

Since we can use cow urine in medicines, in cleaning floors, in cleaning ourselves, in our farms, for gold extraction, it only makes sense that we finally drink it as well.

The Kanpur Gaushala Society in 2009 launched "Goloka Pay", a drink containing 5% distilled cow urine. A litre of the "Ayurvedic cold drink" costs Rs 150 (http://kanpurgaushalasociety.org/product_range.html). Drink up!

Also read: Use cow urine as disinfectant in hospitals, advises Mumbai corporator

Also read: Two men suspected of transporting beef force-fed cow dung by 'gau rakshaks'

First published: 30 June 2016, 11:37 IST