Benefits of Cow Dung - A Human Ignored Gift

Cow is considered as mother and even as god. It is one of the largest domesticated mammals. The meaning of the word panchagavya in Sanskrit is "five cow-derivatives" consisting of three direct constituents like cow urine, dung, milk and the two derived products are curd and ghee. Cow dung and urine are the excretory products. Cow dung is an undigested residue of consumed food material of cow combined with faeces and urine, lignin, cellulose and hemicelluloses being the major composition. Cow dung is an indigestible plant material from the intestine of cow released on to the ground. Generally, faeces, either from an animal or human is not a desired topic of conversation. Cow dung is worth discussing. It's a useful material and helps us in a variety of ways. Cow urine has been used as an antimicrobial not only for rituals but also therapeutically. But cow dung has been mostly used as a firework and/or biofertilizer in the form of cow patties. Researchers have ignored the therapeutical benefits of cow dung which is evident from the smaller number of pharmaceutical products in market amidst of its miraculous benefits. This review discusses about the existing traditional therapeutics and the respective medicinal property of cow dung and tries to change the mindset of the scientific community to carry out the further research in the future.