Re: [compost_tea] More Yucca & Saponin

From: <soilfoodweb_at_aol.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2003 10:25:19 -0500

Hi Kirk -

In trials that we did with yucca, specifically material from Desert King, the biomass of beneficial fungi increased significantly in the teas to which this material was added.

Please don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Just because something says there is an anti-fungal effect, don't throw something out. Try to ask what fungi were killed. If the material being discussed killed the fungal pathogens, but not the beneficials, would that not be a good thing to add to your tea?

Data on the effect of different saponins in tea is what is required. All saponins are not created equal.

What exactly is a spreader? It means that the ionic associations between particles (which may be cells, sould be salts, could be organic matter, could be sand, silt, clays, etc) are lessened. That is the spreading effect.

As you change ionic associations (that's the positive and negative charges on the surfaces of things), the charges on the surfaces of bacterial, fungal, protozoa, nematode, etc will be changed. In some cases, this modification can alter physiological function of the cellular surface, and can result in lysis of the organism.

Synthetic saponins tend to have higher osmotic concentration, so these materials are harder on organism cell walls, and result in greater lysis (break-up) of the cells.

The higher the concentration of saponin added to the tea, beyond some threshold level of benefit, the greater the negative effect on the organisms in the tea.

So, let us not throw out all saponins as potential fungal foods. There is benefit there. Attempt to understand the mechanisms of why and when something will work, and wh y and when it will not work, before blasting out a conclusion that is too broad.

Hope this helps -

Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
SFI Corvallis, OR
SFI Port Jefferson, NY
SFI Lismore, NSW, Australia
SFI Hilversum, The Netherlands
SFI Cambridge, New Zealand
www.soilfoodweb.com

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Received on Sun Nov 30 2003 - 12:03:16 EST

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