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BIOACTIVITIES
OF COW URINE AND ITS ARKA (DISTILLATE)
FOR UTILITY IN AGRICULTURE AND HEALTH
In
an attempt to utilize farm and cattle shed waste,
a process has been developed wherein distillation
waste (plant herbage after distillation) and cow’s
urine were used for production of vermicompost.
It has been observed that addition of cow’s urine
in composting pits led to production of superior
quality vermicompost with higher concentrations
of major macro- and micro-nutrients. Such vermicompost
was found to be superior in terms of useful microflora
(fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes). Application
of this vermicompost in pots significantly improved
the yields of leucerne (Medicago sativa)
when compared with pots supplemented with vermicompost
produced without using cow’s urine.
Cow
urine has been described in ‘Sushrita Samhita’
and ‘Ashtanga Sangraha’ to be the most effective
substance/secretion of animal origin with innumerable
therapeutic values. In Ayurveda cow urine is suggested
for improving general health. However the biological
activity of the cow urine has not been proven
scientifically.
Researchers
at CIMAP have identified a cow urine distillate
fraction as a bioenhancer of commonly used antibiotics
and anti-cancer drugs. Bioenhancers are substances,
which do not possess drug activity of their own
but promote and augment the bioactivity or bioavailability
or the uptake of drugs in combination therapy.
Such bioenhancers have been earlier isolated only
from plant sources. In our study we found that
‘cow urine distillate fraction’ enhances the activity
of antibiotics such as rifampicin by about 5-7
folds against E.coli and 3-11 folds against
Gram-positive bacteria. Rifampicin is a front-line
anti-tubercular drug used against tuberculosis.
Interestingly, it was also found that ‘cow urine
distillate fraction’ enhanced the potency of ‘Taxol’
(paclitaxel) against MCF-7 a human breast cancer
cell line in in-vitro assays (US Patent
No.6,410,059)
BIO
ENHANCEMENT OF DRUGS AND NUTRIENTS BY ‘GO-MUTRA’
AND ITS DRY FRACTION
|
Classes
of Drugs
|
Effective
Conc.
(mg/ml)
|
Folds
enhancement of bioactivity observed
|
|
‘Go-Mutra’
|
‘Go-Mutra’
filtered
|
Ammonium
hydroxide (for pH balance)
|
Purified
fraction
(CIM
1998)
|
|
I.
Antibiotics & Antimycobacterials
Ampicillin
Rifampicin
Isoniazid
|
0.1 - 8.0
0.05 - 30
0.01 - 125
|
5.0
7.1
7.5
|
5.0
6.8
7.0
|
Nil
Nil
Nil
|
5.8
8.2
6.5
|
II.
Anti-cancer
Taxol
|
0.001-0.01
|
5.5
|
5.0
|
Nil
|
5.0
|
III.
Anti-fungal
Clotrimazole
|
0.01 – 4.5
|
2.5
|
3.0
|
Nil
|
5.0
|
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IV.
Uptake and adsorption assays
Transformation
Phage adsorption
|
|
2.5
3.1
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2.3
2.5
|
0.2
0.3
|
-
-
|
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V.
Vitamins
Cyanocobalamine
|
100 - 1000
|
2.5
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-
|
-
|
-
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Central
Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
P.O. CIMAP, Lucknow – 226 015
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