Sapindus

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Sapindus is a genus of about thirteen species of shrubs and small trees in the lychee family, Sapindaceae and tribe Sapindeae. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. The genus includes both deciduous and evergreen species. Members of the genus are commonly known as soapberries[3] or soapnuts because the pulp of the fruit is used to make soap and shampoo. The generic name is derived from the Latin words Script error: No such module "Lang"., meaning "soap", and Script error: No such module "Lang"., meaning "of India".[4]

The leaves are alternate, 15–40 cm (5.9–15.7 in) long, pinnate (except in S. oahuensis, which has simple leaves), with 14–30 leaflets, the terminal leaflet often absent. The flowers form in large panicles, each flower small, creamy white. The fruit is a small leathery-skinned drupe 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) in diameter, yellow ripening blackish, containing one seed. Fossils date back to the Cretaceous.[5][6]

Ecology

Sapindus species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) species including Endoclita malabaricus. Kernel extracts of soapnut disrupt the activity of enzymes of larvae and pupae and inhibit the growth of the mosquito Aedes aegypti, an important vector of viral diseases.[7]

Uses

File:Soapnut as a natural dye.jpg
Soapnut is used with natural dyes to color the yarn of Tasar silk.
File:Sapindus emarginatus in Hyderabad W IMG 4650.jpg
Sapindus emarginatus leaves, India

The drupes (soapnuts) contain saponins, which have surfactant properties, being used for washing by ancient Asian and American peoples.[8][9] A number of other uses for Sapindus have also been reported such as making arrows from the wood and decorative objects from the seeds.[10]

Folk medicine

Leaf and fruit extracts of Sapindus have historically been used in folk remedies to treat various conditions.[11]

Dyeing process

Soapnut is used as a scouring agent for preparation of coloring fibers such as the yarn of Tussar silk and cotton.[12]

Species

File:Sapindus emarginatus in Hyderabad W2 IMG 4648.jpg
Sapindus emarginatus drupes in Hyderabad, India
File:Western Soapberry.jpg
Sapindus drummondii, the Western Soapberry: drupes

As of March 2026, Plants of the World Online includes 20 species:[1] Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".

Formerly placed here

References

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  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sapindus Tourn. ex L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2026. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sapindus L." Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
  3. ^ Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology. Vol. IV R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2381. ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Langley, north (Cretaceous of the United States)". The Paleobiology Database. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bell, W. A. (1957). "Flora of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island, British Columbia". Geological Survey of Canada Memoir. 293.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Soapnut, a mosquito repellent". Down To Earth. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Austin, Daniel F. (2004). Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press. pp. 601–603. ISBN 978-0-8493-2332-4.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Rodríguez-Hernández, Diego; Barbosa, Luiz C.A.; Demuner, Antonio J.; De Almeida, Raquel M.; Fujiwara, Ricardo T.; Ferreira, Sebastião R. (November 2016). "Highly potent anti-leishmanial derivatives of hederagenin, a triperpenoid from Sapindus saponaria L.". European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 124: 153–159. doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.08.030. PMID 27569196.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Soapberry (Sapindus) in Arizona" (PDF). Phytoneuron. November 2020.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Upadhyay A, Singh DK (2012). "Pharmacological effects of Sapindus mukorossi". Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo. 54 (5): 273–280. doi:10.1590/s0036-46652012000500007. PMID 22983291.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Deshmukh, Anjali; Bansal, Lekhika (2014). "Sapindus emarginatus Vahl as a natural scouring agent in dyeing of cotton with Carissa carandas leaf extract" (PDF). BioLife. 2 (2): 599–604. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-11.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."GRIN Species Records of Sapindus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2010-11-01.

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