[compost_tea] More Yucca & Saponin

From: Kirk Leonard <kirk_at_oregonatural.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2003 15:28:45 -0800

Well, since nobody answered my question about saponin from other yuccas
besides schidigera (it's in every yucca in different concentrations) I did
some websearching today (even found a reference from our listserve at UNC!)
and concluded we should NOT be using saponin in compost tea, to make a long
story short. Others may have already reached that conclusion...

Saponin is both a good wetting agent/surfactant/emollient and an
antibacterial/antifungal/antioxidation agent, produced by many plants, e.g.,
yucca, agave, aloe, foxglove, chickweeds - including comfrey, ginseng,
soybeans, acacia, willow, poplar... and many more -- for natural plant
disease protection, it seems.

Mexican and southwest US yucca (schidigera) appear to be the greatest
producers, evolving saponin primarily to deal with water uptake in desert
climes -- it helps itself and other plants take up and store water. So it's
a good emollient, used for centuries in soaps, but it also kills a bunch of
organisms along the way (which is probably why it makes good soap... and
foam in root beer...). The composttea reference indicated it reduced fungal
tea content by 45% or so. Are we learning from ourselves or what?

There appear to be many beneficial human health effects of saponin (hey, it
reduces aggravation in mice, kills ruminant protozoa, and can be both a
laxative and an aphrodisiac..:), but appears not to be a good idea in
compost tea. Do a google on it yourself and see what you think. Most
useful query was "saponin and extract" as I recall. Interesting overview at
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/sp-su98/saponins.html. Whole bunch more out
there. Cholesterol and cancer stuff seem potentially real valuable to me.

In the meantime, I think we should drop the idea of saponin as a viable
compost tea sticker/spreader or nutrient. It may have some benefit as a
natural biocide but not as a component of aerated compost tea, imo.

-- Kirk























------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/0PSxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
compost_tea-unsubscribe_at_yahoogroups.com

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/




Received on Sat Nov 29 2003 - 19:18:53 EST

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.0 : Tue Feb 07 2012 - 14:14:54 EST