As per a research paper presented in Junagadh Agriculture University (JAU) there is gold in the urine of Gir breed cows.
Dr. BA Golakia, the professor, under whose guidance the research took place, however claimed that the gold in the urine is of medical value and it wouldn’t be possible to extract the yellow metal for commercial viability.
Golakia, who is the head of the department of Biotechnology at JAU, claimed that apart from urine, his team was doing research on cow dung to find out medicinal values. The professor also claimed that during the four years of research process, they found gold in ion form in cow urine. He further said that the gold ions found in the Gir cows were of 388 compounds of high medicinal value.
The research team of JAU also did similar research on the urine of other domestic animals including buffalo, sheep, camel and goat, but they didn’t find any antibiotic compounds what they found in the urine of Gir cow.
Explaining his research, Dr. Golakia said that the gold found in the Gir cows was not literal gold but was ‘bio-gold’ and hence it would be suitable for medicinal usages rather than commercial. He said that as part of research urine samples of 400 Gir cows was analysed at the food testing laboratory of JAU and found gold salts soluble in water. They used the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS) to inspect Gir cows’ urine. After a certain chemical processes the gold in the urine can be extracted and solidified also, he added. The ancient Hindu scriptures mentioned about presence of gold in cow urines, but there was no scientific base to prove it, says Golakia, adding that hence JAU decided to carry out research on Gir cows and other animals.