Yucca Vs. Soapwort Vs. Aritha/Soapnuts?

[Neoma]

You are most welcome.

When it comes to many natural products and the lack of and/or scattered information available, detective work, research and common sense are required, to make sense of it all. Heaven forbid it should be easy, lol.

Yeah, and not everybody has ktani to sift through all the info.

[ktani]

Yeah, and not everybody has ktani to sift through all the info.

Thank you. I get curious and tenacious about information. mellie has found some great information too, IMO.

[Neoma]

Thank you. I get curious and tenacious about information. mellie has found some great information too, IMO.

You're welcome.

Yes, indeed, mellie has found lots of great info.

[mellie]

FYI, I tried the ones from Mountain Rose Herbs but they didn't work very well for me and I wouldn't recommend them. They are much smaller and didn't have the cleansing power of the larger ones. I believe they might actually be S. trifoliatus and not S. mukorossi.

Re: the seed inside; my theory is - I think the flesh kind of grabs onto the seed somewhat, preventing the full release of the saponins.

The Mountain Rose ones all had the seed inside. I didn't realize this, and ran a load of laundry with them. The laundry came out terribly. All the clothes were pilled up, and not very clean. When I mistakenly tried them on my hair as well with the seed still inside, it was an equal disaster. It made my hair actually greasier than before I washed. Pretty nasty!

When I figured out that they still had the seed inside, and removed the seed, they worked better (still not as well the bigger soapnuts) but way, way better than with the seed still inside.

[mellie]

Here's an interesting link which states some chemical components of soapnuts:

http://boombuying.com/productDetails...=1259&pid=8292

Active Ingredient : Saponins 10% & Saponins 20%
Common Name : Soapnuts
Chemical Constituents and Components : Main chemical components are saponins, sapindoside A and B, kaempferol, quercetin, B-sitosterol, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic and eicosenoic acids, glycerides.
Action :
Saponins:
1. It possesses potent spermicidal activity and used as a natural contraceptive.
2. It alters the sperm membrane physiology.
3. It exhibits significant antimicrobicidal activity.
4. It inhibits platelet aggregration.
5. It shows molluscicidal activity against snails.
6. It is used for removing freckles.
7. It is very effective in neurodermatitis.
Curing Diseases : 1. It is used against asthma, diarrhoea, cholera, verminosis and gastralgia dyspepsia.
2. It is used in lumbago, hysteria, dyspepsia and worm affection.
3. It is used as surfactant and used for washing hairs and fabrics.
Research Information : Sapindus mukorossi extract possesses antimicrobial activity. It is effective against both gram +ve and gram –ve bacteria. (Ref. Ibrahim, Mohammed and et.al., Antimicrobial activity of Sapindus mukorossi and Rheum emodi extracts against H pylori: In vitro and in vivo studies, World J Gastroenterol. 2006 Nov 28;12 (44):7136-7142)
Possible Combinations : Sapindus mukorossi + quillaja saponaria + saponaria officinalis (cleansing agent)

[mellie]

This also has a lot of chemical information on soapnuts plants, mostly the leaves:

http://www.siu.edu/~ebl/leaflets/sapindus.htm

Seeds contain11.5%saponin, 45% fixed oil and 10%glucose. Saponin glycoside emarginotoside has been isolated from the aqueous extract of the fruit of Sapindus trifoliatus. The saponin glycoside hederagin3-o (3-o- acetyl-beta–D-xylose was isolated from pericarp of Sapindus trifoliatus 4.

This appears to be a new study, issued October 30, 2008.

ETA: Here's another one:

http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/2566.asp

The major constituents of its fruit are saponins (10%-11.5%), sugars (10%) and mucilage[14]. The fruit of the plant is reported to have expectorant, emetic, alexipharmic, and abortificiant effects.

[mellie]

This is interesting about shikakai:

http://peacecraft.tripod.com/infomine/all_herb.htm

Latin Names: Acacia sinuata
Syn. A.concinna
English Name:
Sanskrit / Indian Name: Saptala, Kochi, Ritha
Arabian Name :
Persian Name :

A common, prickly, scandent shrub.

The pods yield saponins (20.8&#37 which have been reported to contain acacinin-C, -D and -E and a homologous series of oligosaccharides. An ointment prepared from the ground pods is good for skin diseases. A decoction of the pods relieves biliousness and acts as a purgative. It is used to remove dandruff and has a detangling effect on the hair, which helps in increasing the hair volume.

The pods, known as Shikai or Shikakai, are extensively used as a detergent, and the dry ones are powdered and perfumed, and sold in the market as soapnut powder.

It seems that shikakai is about twice as high in saponins than soapnuts, so it would be good to note the cautions for saponins when using shikakai.

I have never tried it, I am very curious to try the whole pods but cannot find them, only the powder.

[mellie]

Less is More?

Just wanted to report that today I tried just using 1 oz. of the liquid instead of 1.5 oz., and it worked really, really nicely! In facts my roots look really good - they were the slightest bit greasy with the 1.5 oz, strangely enough!

[eaglefeather71]

This is interesting about shikakai:

http://peacecraft.tripod.com/infomine/all_herb.htm



It seems that shikakai is about twice as high in saponins than soapnuts, so it would be good to note the cautions for saponins when using shikakai.

I have never tried it, I am very curious to try the whole pods but cannot find them, only the powder.

The Indian name is Reetha, or aritha? That is the Indian Name for Soapnuts. Very strange that they would say that for Shikakai?

[mellie]

You mean that last sentence:

The pods, known as Shikai or Shikakai, are extensively used as a detergent, and the dry ones are powdered and perfumed, and sold in the market as soapnut powder.

Yes, I thought that was interesting too. That is one reason I've been wary of powders, since you can't be too sure of what you are actually getting. It might say "soapnut powder" but it could be soapnuts, or amla, or shikakai, or other things too, with who knows what perfumes, etc. added also. Someone here (sorry I can't remember who!) bought amla powder and it ended up also containing indigo (!) although it never said on the package.