Sapindus
| Sapindus | |
|---|---|
| Sapindus marginatus shrubs | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Sapindales |
| Family: | Sapindaceae |
| Tribe: | Sapindeae |
| Genus: | Sapindus L. |
| Type species | |
| Sapindus saponaria L.[1]
| |
| Species | |
|
See text | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
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 sapo, meaning "soap", and indicus, 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
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
As of March 2026, Plants of the World Online includes 20 species:[2]
- Sapindus balicus Radlk.
- Sapindus chrysotrichus Gagnep.
- Sapindus delavayi (Franch.) Radlk.
- Sapindus drummondii Hook. & Arn.
- Sapindus emarginatus Vahl
- Sapindus marginatus Willd.
- Sapindus marikuru A.R.Franck
- Sapindus motu-koita A.R.Franck
- Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn.
- Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk.
- Sapindus oocarpus Radlk.
- Sapindus rarak DC.
- Sapindus saponaria L.
- Sapindus sonlaensis H.M.Tam, N.K.Khoi, N.T.Cuong & T.B.Tran
- Sapindus standleyi A.R.Franck
- Sapindus thurstonii Rock
- Sapindus tomentosus Kurz
- Sapindus tricarpus (Blanco) A.R.Franck
- Sapindus trifoliatus L.
- Sapindus vitiensis A.Gray
Formerly placed here
- Lepisanthes fruticosa (Roxb.) Leenh. (as S. fruticosus Roxb.)
- Lepisanthes senegalensis (Juss. ex Poir.) Leenh. (as S. senegalensis Juss. ex Poir.)
- Lepisanthes tetraphylla (Vahl) Radlk. (as S. tetraphylla Vahl)
- Talisia cerasina (Benth.) Radlk. (as S. cerasinus Benth.)
- Talisia esculenta (A.St.-Hil.) Radlk. (as S. esculenta A.St.-Hil.)[13]
References
- ^ "Sapindus L." Tropicos. Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
- ^ a b "Sapindus Tourn. ex L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2026. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
- ^ "Sapindus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Langley, north (Cretaceous of the United States)". The Paleobiology Database. Archived from the original on 7 September 2020.
- ^ Bell, W. A. (1957). "Flora of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island, British Columbia". Geological Survey of Canada Memoir. 293.
- ^ "Soapnut, a mosquito repellent". Down To Earth. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
- ^ Austin, Daniel F. (2004). Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press. pp. 601–603. ISBN 978-0-8493-2332-4.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Soapberry (Sapindus) in Arizona" (PDF). Phytoneuron. November 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "GRIN Species Records of Sapindus". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2010-11-01.
External links
- Media related to Sapindus at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Sapindus at Wikispecies
- Flora of India: Sapindus
- Flora of Pakistan: Sapindus
- Flora of China: Sapindus species list