One of the most common species of this genus is Saponaria officinalis, also known as “common soapwort”, a popular weed. It has been known for many years that extracts from Saponaria can produce foams, and this property is at the origin of the species’ name (“soap” derives from the Latin “sapo”). This ability to form and sustain a foam results from the presence of natural surfactants (“biosurfactants”) produced by Saponaria and stored in different parts of the plant. These biosurfactants belong to a huge family of natural glycosides, known as saponins. Before considering the application of Saponaria as a foaming agent for our formulations, we spent over five years studying the physicochemical properties of different saponins. The results of these studies have been published in a series of papers in renowned scientific journals :
- M. Orczyk, K. Wojciechowski, "Comparison of the effect of two Quillaja bark saponin extracts on DPPC and DPPC/cholesterol Langmuir monolayers", Coll. Surf. B, 2015, 136, 291-299
- Kezwon, K. Wojciechowski "Interaction of Quillaja bark saponins with food-relevant proteins", Adv. Coll. Interf. Sci., 2014, 209, 185-195
- K. Wojciechowski, M. Orczyk, T. Gutberlet, M. Trapp, K. Marcinkowski, T. Kobiela, T. Geue "Unusual penetration of phospholipid mono- and bilayers by Quillaja bark saponin biosurfactant", BBA-Biomembranes, 2014, 1838, 1931-1940
- K. Wojciechowski, M. Orczyk, K. Marcinkowski, T. Kobiela, M. Trapp, T. Gutberlet, T. Geue "Effect of hydration of sugar groups on adsorption of Quillaja bark saponin at air/water and Si/water interfaces", Coll. Surf. B, 2014, 117, 60-67
- K. Wojciechowski, A. Kezwon, J. Lewandowska, K. Marcinkowski "Effect of b-casein on surface activity of Quillaja bark saponin at fluid/fluid interfaces", Food Hydrocolloids, 2014, 34, 208-216
- K. Wojciechowski "Surface activity of saponin from Quillaja Bark at the air/water and oil/water interfaces", Coll. Surf. B, 2013, 108 95-102
- M. Piotrowski, J. Lewandowska, K. Wojciechowski "Biosurfactant-protein mixtures: Quillaja Bark Saponin at water/air and water/oil interfaces in presence of b-lactoglobulin", J. Phys. Chem. B, 2012, 116, 4843-4850
- K. Wojciechowski, M. Piotrowski, W. Popielarz, T.R. Sosnowski "Short- and Mid-term Adsorption Behaviour of Quillaja Bark Saponin and its Mixtures with Lysozyme", Food Hydrocolloids, 2011, 25, 687-693