11/5/2018 Sapindus - Wikipedia

Sapindus
Sapindus is a genus of about five to twelve species of shrubs and small
trees in the Lychee family, Sapindaceae, native to warm temperate to
Sapindus
tropical regions in both the Old World and New World. The genus
includes both deciduous and evergreen species. Members of the genus
are commonly known as soapberries[3] or soapnuts because the fruit
pulp is used to make soap. 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
(0.39–0.79 in) in diameter, yellow ripening blackish, containing one to
three seeds.

Contents
Sapindus marginatus shrubs
Uses
Folk medicine Scientific classification
Insecticide
Kingdom: Plantae
Dyeing agent
Species
(unranked): Angiosperms
Formerly placed here (unranked): Eudicots
References
(unranked): Rosids
External links
Order: Sapindales
Family: Sapindaceae
Uses Subfamily: Sapindoideae
The drupes (soapnuts) contain saponins which are a natural surfactant.
Genus: Sapindus
They have been used for washing by ancient people in Asia as well as
L.
Native Americans.[5]
Type species

Folk medicine Sapindus saponaria

L.[1]
Soapnuts have historically been used in folk remedies but, as the
effectiveness of such treatments has not been subjected to scientific Species
scrutiny, there is no confirmed health benefit of using soapnuts to treat
See text
any human disease.

Synonyms
Insecticide Dittelasma Hook.f.[2]

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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
inhibits the growth of the mosquito Aedes aegypti, an important vector of
viral diseases.[6]

Dyeing agent
Soapnut is used as a dyeing agent for coloring the yarn of Tussar silk and
Soapnut is used with natural dyes to
cotton.[7]
color the yarn of Tasar silk.

Species
The number of species is disputed between different authors, particularly in North
America where between one and three species are accepted.

Sapindus delavayi (China, India)

Sapindus detergens (syn. var. Soapnut, Ritha)
Sapindus emarginatus Vahl (Southern Asia)
Sapindus laurifolius Vahl – Ritha (India)
Sapindus marginatus Willd. – Florida Soapberry (Florida to South Carolina);
included in S. saponaria by some authors. Sapindus emarginatus
Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn. – Indian Soapberry (Northern India east to the leaves, India
Himalayas)
Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk. – Lonomea (Kauaʻi and Oʻahu, Hawaii)
Sapindus rarak DC. (Southeast Asia)
Sapindus saponaria L.

S. s. var. drummondii (Hook. & Arn.) L.D.Benson – Western Soapberry

(southwestern United States, Mexico)
S. s. var. saponaria – Wingleaf Soapberry (southeastern United States,
Caribbean, island of Hawaiʻi, Central and South America)
Sapindus tomentosus (China)
Sapindus trifoliatus L. – South India Soapnut or Three-leaf Soapberry
(Southern India, Pakistan)
Sapindus vitiensis A.Gray (American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji)[3][8][9]
Sapindus emarginatus
drupes in Hyderabad, India
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.)[9]

References
1. "Sapindus L." (http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40029469) TROPICOS. Missouri
Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2010-01-13.
2. "Genus: Sapindus L." (http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?1070 S. saponaria var.
7) Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of drummondii berries
Agriculture. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2010-01-13.

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3. "Sapindus" (https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TS
N&search_value=28695). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved
2010-11-01.
4. Quattrocchi, Umberto (2000). CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common
Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology (https://books.
google.com/books?id=zIOvJSJs-IkC). IV R-Z. Taylor & Francis US. p. 2381.
ISBN 978-0-8493-2678-3.
5. Austin, Daniel F. (2004). Florida Ethnobotany (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=eS7lX_rC3GEC). CRC Press. pp. 601–603. ISBN 978-0-8493-2332-4.
6. "Soapnut, a mosquito repellent" (http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/soapnu
t-mosquito-repellent). Down To Earth.
7. Deshmukh A, Bansal L (2014). "Sapindus emarginatus Vahl as a natural
scouring agent in dyeing of cotton with Carissa carandas leaf extract" (http://bi
olifejournal.com/327%20ANJALI%20DESHMUKH%20599-604.pdf) (PDF).
BioLife. 2 (2): 599–604.
8. "Sapindus vitiensis" (https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.as
px?33093). Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural
Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Retrieved 2009-03-23.
9. "GRIN Species Records of Sapindus" (https://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/ht
ml/splist.pl?10707). Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States
Department of Agriculture. 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2010-11-01.

External links
Flora of India: Sapindus (http://www.pureindia.com/soapnut.htm)
Flora of Pakistan: Sapindus (http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=129159)
Flora of China: Sapindus species list (http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=3&taxon_id=129159)

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