title: Pure human urine is a good fertiliser for cucumbers.
abstract: Human urine obtained from separating toilets was tested as a fertiliser for cultivation of outdoor cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) in a Nordic climate. The urine used contained high amounts of nitrogen with some phosphorus and potassium, but numbers of enteric microorganisms were low even though urine had not been preserved before sampling. The cucumber yield after urine fertilisation was similar or slightly better than the yield obtained from control rows fertilised with commercial mineral fertiliser. None of the cucumbers contained any enteric microorganisms (coliforms, enterococci, coliphages and clostridia). In the taste assessment, 11 out of 20 persons could recognise which cucumber of three cucumbers was different but they did not prefer one over the other cucumber samples, since all of them were assessed as equally good.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FIN 70211 Kuopio, Finland. heinotan@uku.fi
authors.forename: Helvi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Heinonen-Tanski
authors.forename: Annalena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjöblom
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fabritius
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Karinen
mesh_terms: D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000254:growth & development*; D005308:Fertilizers / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers