Abstract
In response to increasing natural surfactant demand and environmental concerns, natural plant-based surfactants have been replacing synthetic ones. Saponins belong to a class of plant metabolites with surfactant properties that are widely distributed in nature. They are eco-friendly because of their natural origin and biodegradable. To date, many plant-based saponins have been investigated for their surface activity. An overview of saponins with a particular focus on their surface-active properties is presented in this article. For this purpose, works published in the past few decades, which report better surfactant relevant properties of saponins than synthetic ones, were extensively studied. The investigations on the potential surfactant application of saponins are also documented. Moreover, some biological activities of saponins such as antimicrobial activity, antidiabetic activity, adjuvant potentials, anticancer activity, and others are reported. Plants rich in saponins are widely distributed in nature, offering great potential for the replacement of toxic synthetic surfactants in a variety of modern commercial products and these saponins exhibit excellent surface and biological activities. New opportunities and challenges associated with the development of saponin-based commercial formulations in the future are also discussed in detail.
Highlights
Environmental pollution is one of the great existential global burdens that has degraded the earth’s ecosystem and threatened life on earth [1]
We provide a brief overview of the molecular and physicochemical properties of plant-based natural surfactants, saponins, emphasizing surfactant properties similar to those of conventional surfactants along with their potential applications
The surfactant properties of saponins in aqueous solutions can be attributed to their amphiphilic structure, which is a combination of lipophilic non-polar aglycone and hydrophilic polar glycone moieties [8]
Summary
Environmental pollution is one of the great existential global burdens that has degraded the earth’s ecosystem and threatened life on earth [1]. A trend can be seen towards using natural products instead of synthetic ones because of environmental concerns [2,3,4]. Sci 2021, 3, 44 from raw petrochemicals [9] Due to their petrochemical origin, these chemicals are mostly toxic and non-biodegradable, causing a great deal of environmental damage [10,11]. They form a soapy lather, their name “saponins” [15] They are eco-friendly because of their natural origin, biodegradable and non-toxic which is of utmost importance from environmental and health perspectives. Saponin-rich plants offer excellent physicochemical and biological properties, making them a promising source of natural surfactants, both for research and for commercial purposes [16]. There is a need for further studies on the development of commercial formulations based on saponins that can replace synthetic counterparts, making more efficient use of organic resources and making a positive contribution towards a greener environment
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