Foam from Saponaria

We are currently investigating the foam formation abilities and foam stabilities of different Saponaria species. Saponaria belong to the Caryophyllaceae family and are native to Europe and Asia.

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 :

 

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