YUCCA

Reprint from Let's Live Magazine, February 1975

By Mike Spencer

Yucca, the hardy desert succulent long treasured by the Indians of the Southwest·in an extracted form, known for its agricultural and waste treatment benefits. Yucca Saponin, the harmless extract from the plant, has been used with surprising success on arthritis and rheumatism sufferers at a clinic in Southern California.

While the Indians of the Southwest have used the Yucca and its soapy extracts for centuries, it is only in recent years that it has come into commercial usage thanks largely to the pioneering efforts of John W. Yale, PhD., who developed the process by which the saponin is extracted. Yale's interest in the Yucca began while he was working on a large soil company research project attempting to develop commercial potentials of another desert plant, the jojoba (see Live, December, 1973).

"I became fascinated with the idea of these desert plants not only surviving, but actually thriving in this incredible environment ö the extreme heat, then extreme cold, absolutely no water for long periods of time and then too much water following sudden cloudbursts," he said. "First, we found that steroid saponin compounds were in high concentration in many of the desert succulents and also in high concentration in desert soil itself."

"We discovered in studying the Yucca that when its leaves died, they slowly disintegrated into a fine dust which then floated through the air. You could actually stand 100 yards down wind from the plant, have someone shake it and you would taste the dust as it hit you."

"It became obvious to us," he said, "that the Yuccas, and other succulents to a lesser degree, were actually treating large areas of desert around themselves as part of nature's overall survival mechanism."

He said the dust compounds (saponin) act a combination wetting and anti-stress agents, helping the other plants of the desert more effectively utilize water when it's available. "In extremely hot areas," he said, "most of the water arrives in summer during cloudburst and it's essential that the plants get as much of it as possible. As a wetting agent, the saponin helps them adjust that."

"Conversely, in the high desert areas, where most of the water comes in the winter, the compounds act to keep the plants active under stress conditions of temperature." "Boiled down," he said, "it became obvious that the saponin appeared to act as a general anti-stress agent, making it easier for surrounding plants to take up water and to utilize it more effectively."

After developing the extraction process, Yale began experimenting with agricultural crops and discovered effects similar to those found in desert plants. "When we place the compound in the soil, we found that it acted as a definite growth-regulating substance, allowing the plants to grow more normally under stress conditions, such as drought."

Yale makes it clear that the compounds have absolutely no effect when the plants face normal conditions, when there is no stress. "It in no way helps plants grow bigger than nature intended," he said.

In California, the compounds have been used with great success on strawberry, carrot, onion, potato, cotton alfalfa, broccoli, tomato and orange crops, increasing yields from 15 to 25 percent. The product still is in demand in agriculture because studies show water penetration and uptake is increased and nutrients available to plants are increased.

Further experimentation with the saponin found they accelerated the breakdown of organic wastes by microscopic plants (bacteria) so it was tried out in waste disposal plants with great success. As in the agricultural area, the saponins are still used in sewage treatment plants in the United States and Canada.

It is also being used with great success as a cleansing and clarifying agent in swimming pools in such areas as Palm Springs and other areas of the Southwest where the saline content of the water is high.