SAPONINS 265 



General Properties and Uses of Saponins. 



Connected with their emulsifying property is the employ- 

 ment of saponins as substitutes for soaps, a fact which is 

 indicated in the name Saponin itself and also by the names 

 Saponaria, soap wort and Quillaia (meaning wash wood), etc. 



The so-called soap nuts are the fruits of Sapindus (fructus 

 saponis indici) and these, as well as the beans of Entada 

 scandens and Lychnis chalcedonica or Tartary soap, are largely 

 used in the East for washing clothes, since they have no 

 deleterious effect on the colour or the fibre of the most delicate 

 fabrics. 



Aqueous solutions of saponins have a marked power of 

 retaining dissolved gases, as, for example, carbon dioxide ; for 

 this reason saponins are occasionally added to effervescent 

 drinks, such as ginger-beer or lemonade, a use which is to be 

 deprecated owing to their toxic properties.* 



Occasionally saponins are employed for making suspensions 

 of solids in water since they exert an inhibiting effect on the 

 precipitation or deposition of suspended solids. 



FURTHER REFERENCES. 



Armstrong : " The Simple Carbohydrates and Glucosides," London, 

 1924. 



Robert : " Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Saponinsubstanzen," Stuttgart, 

 1904. 



Kofler : " Die Saponine," Wien, 1927. 



Van Rijn : " Die Glykoside," Berlin, 1900. 



* The saponin obtained from the bark and wood of Guajacum officinale 

 is occasionally used for this purpose, since it is practically non-poisonous, 

 its haemolytic action being only very slight. 



