Cow Urine: Plant Growth Enhancer and Antimicrobial Agent

Abstract

The cow is considered a divine animal in the Hindu culture. The milk, cow dung, urine of the cow is used for various purposes. The benefits of cow urine have been depicted in ancient Hindu texts, Vedas. The present study aimed at using cow urine as a plant growth enhancer and antimicrobial agent. The plants chosen for this study were Zea mays (maize), Triticum aestivum (wheat),Cymbopogon citratum (grass), Ocimum basilicum (tukmaria) and Trigonella foenum graecum (methi). The plants were grown for 30 days using different cow urine concentrations i.e 0%(control), 5%, 15%, 25%. The various parameters such as plant height, shoot, and root length, number of leaves, the mass of the root etc were observed. The antibacterial test using different cow urine concentrations i.e 0%(control), 5%, 15%, 25% was conducted on Escherichia coli using disc diffusion method. The fungus was screened and isolated from raw coconut and was grown on YPD media to obtain the mother culture. Using Slide culture technique, the fungi were identified as Aspergillus. The media was poisoned using different cow urine concentrations i.e 0%(control), 5%, 15%, 25% and the fungi culture was inoculated. GCMS analysis was conducted to identify the compounds present in the cow urine. Among the concentrations, 5% cow urine concentration showed maximum growth when compared to other concentrations whereas 25% concentration showed more antibacterial and antifungal activity when compared to others. In GCMS Analysis, 16 compounds have been identified, in which, 6 compounds were antifungal, 3 compounds were antibacterial, and 2 compounds as plant growth enhancers. This study concludes that cow urine can be used as a plant growth enhancer and it possesses antimicrobial characteristics.