Discussion of possible options for Detergent from Natural Sources

1. Sustainable Development
Use of Sapindus saponins as a Bio-detergent
constituent
Rohit Mahale
Aadesh Chordiya

2. What are detergents ?
Detergents are the sodium salts of long branched chain benzene
sulphonic acid having cleansing properties
Cationic, Anionic, Non-ionic, Amphoteric
Contents – Sodium laureth sulphate(SLS) ,Sodium lauryl Ether
Sulfate(SLES), Fragrances, Whitening Agents, Suspension Agents, dioxiane,
Builders , Phosphates, Biological Enzymes, Fragrances, Whitening Agents,
Foam Control agents
Sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate
Likes water Likes oil
Hydrophilic Hydrophobic

3. Problems due to synthetic detergents
 Non biodegradability
 Additives like phosphates
provide nutrition to the Algae
in the water sources
 Soil Pollution
 Endocrine disruptors
 Bio-magnification of hazardous
chemicals in food chain
 VOC from dryers
 Allergies & health problems are
also observed ( burns or holes in
oesophagus, loss of vision,
breathing difficulty and damage
to internal organs)
 No effect of the conventional
treatments in sewage treatment
plants
 Resistance to biological
degradation

4. Detergent constituent Name of chemical Environmental effect Health toxicity
Surfactant Alkyl benzene sulfonates Emits carcinogenic benzene
Slow to biodegradable
Eye and skin irritation
Surfactant Alkyl phenoxy polyethoxy
ethanol
Toxic to aquatic organisms Is suspected endocrine
toxicant
Surfactant Diethanolamines Slow to biodegradable Carcinogenic
Pollutens
Builders Sodium Triphosphate Contribute to
eutrophication
Biodegradable
-
Builders EDTA
-
Eye and skin irritation
Anti-redeposition agents Polyethylene glycol
-
Is suspected to skin or
sense organ toxicant
Optical Brighteners Chorine bleach or sodium
hypochlorite
- Eye and lung irritant
Allergic reaction
Toxic to aquatics

5. Bio-detergents
Use of Sapindus saponins
Cleaning
1. Solubility (HCB) –
Same as SDS
2. Desorption –
Less at low
contamination
3. Soil flushing
Production
1. Drying at 50o for 2 days
2. Grinding & sieving through 840µm
(US Std. no. 20)
3. 10 g per 100 ml solution (10 %)
stirred for 3h & centrifuged for 45
min (10000 rpm)
4. 70 % solubility
- Sapindus Genus (Ancient use)
- Sapindus mukurossi
(Chinese soapberry,soapnut,washnut, Ritha)

6. Propertiesa
 pH of Sapindus saponin solution
varies from 5.8-5 as the
concentration increased from 0.1 g/L
to 10.0 g/L and then did not vary
beyond 1%
 Adsorption Isotherm
 CMC value of Sapindus saponin
solution is 120mg/L
 Value of surface tension is near about
32mN/m
 Nitrogen & phosphorus – absent
 TOC is 41 g/l
 Empirical Formula (C26H32O10)n
a for 10 % solution

7. Conclusion
Features
 Obviously Bio-degradable
 Free from petrochemicals
 Free from Phosphate
 Powerful, but does not leave residue on clothes
 Indirect cost reduction in the effluent treatment systems.
 Easy recovery for reuse
Disadvantage
 One disadvantage has been reported in a study. It reveals that the
saponins have adverse effect on the molluscs like snails. This study also
observed the anti-bacterial, anti-cancer properties of saponins

8. References
 Aqueous solubility enhancement & desorption of hexachlorobenzene from soil using
a plant based surfactant (R R Kommalapati, K T Valsaraj, W D Constant, D Roy)
 Studying effects of some surfactants and detergents on filter-feeding bivalves (S. A.
Ostroumov)
 Surfactants from renewable sources (M Kjellin)
 On Studying the Hazards of Pollution of the Biosphere: Effects of Sodium
Dodecylsulfate (SDS) on Planktonic Filter-Feeders (I. M. Vorozhun and S. A.
Ostroumov)
 An examination of the effects of detergents on anaerobic digestion (Kojo Arthur
Mensah, Christopher F. Forster)
 Natural surfactant extracted from Sapindus mukurossi as an eco-friendly alternate
to synthetic surfactant e a dye surfactant interaction study (Sidra Tul Muntaha, M.
Nasiruddin Khan)
 Molluscicidal activity of Sapindus mukorossi and Terminaliachebula against the
freshwater snail Lymnaea acuminate (Aparna Upadhyay, D.K. Singh)
 Analysis of the bioactive components of Sapindussaponins (Wu Heng ,Zhang Ling ,
Wang Na, Guo Youzhi ,Weng Zhen, Sun Zhiyong,Xu Deping,Xie Yunfei,Yao Weirong)

9. Thank You !!!