Surface Active Agents of

Plant Origin
Prepared By
Mr. Pankaj G. Sawant.
 INTRODUCTION
 A substance capable of reducing the surface tension
of a liquid in which it is dissolved is called as
Surfactant.

 Surfactants are wetting agents that lower the surface

tension of a liquid, allowing easier spreading, and
lower the interfacial tension between two liquids.
 CLASSIFICATION

Surfactants

IONIC NONIONIC

FATTY ALKYLE
ANIONIC CATIONIC ZWITTERIONIC
ALCOHOLS POLYGLUCOSIDES

SODIUM LAURYL CETYL TRIMETHYL DODECYL

SULFATE AMONIUM BROMIDE BETAINE

ALKYL BENZENE BENZALCONIUM COCO AMPHO

SULFONATE CHLORIDE GLYCINATE
 OPERATION & EFFECTS
 Surfactants reduce the surface tension of water by
adsorbing at the air-water interface. They also reduce
the interfacial tension between oil and water by
adsorbing at the liquid-liquid interface.
 Many surfactants can also assemble in the bulk
solution into aggregates that are known as Micelles.
 The concentration at which surfactants begin
to form micelles is known as the critical
micelle concentration or CMC.
 When micelles form in water, their tails form
a core that is like an oil droplet, and their
(ionic) heads form an outer shell that maintains
favorable contact with water.
 When surfactants
assemble in oil, the
aggregate is referred to
as a reverse micelle. In a
reverse micelle, the
heads are in the core
and the tails maintain
favorable contact with
oil.
 APPLICATIONS
 Detergents
 Fabric Softener
 Emulsifiers
 Wetting Agents
 Foaming Agents
 Defoaming Agents
 Laxatives
 Agrochemical formulations
 Herbicides
 Insecticides
 PRODUCTS
 Personal Cleansing Products:
2. Bar soaps or Gels.
3. Liquid soaps.
4. Heavy duty hand cleaners.
 Laundry Detergents & Laundry Aids
2. Bleaches.
3. Boosters.
4. Fabric Softners.
5. Water softners.
 Dishwashing Products:
2. Hand dishwashing detergents.
3. Automatic dishwashing detergents.
4. Film removers.
5. Lime & rust removers
 Household Cleaners:
2. Abrasive cleaners.
3. Speciality cleaners.
4. Glass cleaners.
5. Metal cleaners.
6. Toilet cleaners.
Difference between Natural &
Synthetic Surfactants.
 The all surfactants have the same basic
structure: a hydrophilic (water-loving)
”head” and a hydrophobic (fat-loving)
”tail”.
 Oleochemical surfactants, also referred to as
“natural” are derived from plant oils such as
palm, palm kernel or coconut oil, or from
animal fats such as tallow, lard or fish oil.
 Petrochemical surfactants are derived from crude
oil and are also known as “synthetic” surfactants.
 There are, however, some apparently minor
differences between the two surfactants. The
carbon chains of natural feedstocks are always
linear and even-numbered, while synthetic
feedstocks may have branched carbon chains and
contain even or odd numbers of carbon atoms.
 SAPONINS

 Saponins are natural detergents

(surfactants) found in a variety of plants ,
especially in the plant skins where they
form a waxy protective coating. They
dissolve in water to form a soapy froth.

 Saponins are high-molecular weight

glycosides combining a sugar element and a
steroid aglycone or triterpene molecule.
 Saponins have detergent or surfactant
properties because they contain both water-
soluble and fat-soluble components. They
consist of a fat-soluble nucleus, having either a
steroid or triterpenoid structure, with one or
more side chains of watersoluble
carbohydrates.
CLASSIFICATION
 TRITERPENOIDS
 Triterpenoids are widely distributed in plant
kingdom. They are present in either free state
or as estes or glycosides. They are the
compounds prepared from six isoprene
units.they are classified as tetracyclic &
pentacyclic triterpenoids.
 Squalene is the immediate biological precursor of
all triterpenoids.
 Among the large number of triterpenoid structures,
some of them are shown below.
 STEROIDS
 Steroids are modified
triterpenes which
derived also from
squalene by cyclization,
unsaturation and
substitution. The
nucleus of all steroids is
the tetracyclic
 A steroid is a terpenoid lipid characterized by
a carbon skeleton with four fused rings. All
steroids, being terpenoids, are derived from
cholesterol
Different steroids vary in the functional groups
attached to these rings, the base structure being
a cyclophenanthrene nucleus.
 OCCURANCE OF SAPONINS
 Saponins have been
identified in: Soybeans
Soapberry Yucca
Soapwort Aloe
Conkers/horse chestnuts Quinoa
Digitalis Bacopa monnieri
Grape skin Chlorophytum species
Gotu Kola Chlorogalum species,
Olives Tribulus terrestris (as
Panax protodioscin)
Jiaogulan Asparagus (as protodioscin)
Quillaia saponaria Rambutan
 BIOSYNTHESIS OF
TRITERPENOID SAPONINS
 Many different plant species synthesise triterpenoid
saponins as part of their normal programme of growth
and development. Triterpenoid saponins are
synthesised via the isoprenoid pathway by cyclization
of 2,3-oxidosqualene to give primarily oleanane (beta-
amyrin) or dammarane triterpenoid skeletons. The
triterpenoid backbone then undergoes various
modifications (oxidation, substitution and
glycosylation), mediated by cytochrome P450-
dependent monooxygenases, glycosyltransferases and
other enzymes.
INTESTINAL FUNCTION OF
SAPONINS
 Saponins affect the permeability of intestinal
cells by forming addition complexes with
sterols (e.g., cholesterol) in mucosal cell
membranes.
 saponins increase the permeability of intestinal
mucosal cells, inhibit active nutrient transport,
and may facilitate the uptake of substances to
which the gut would normally be
impermeable.
 PRODUCTION OF YUCCA
EXTRACTS
 Most commercial production of yucca
products takes place in Mexico. The yucca
plantsare harvested by Mexican farmers and
transported to processingplants. The trunk of
the plant (yucca logs) is the partused.
 The logs are mechanically macerated and
either driedand ground to produce 100% yucca
powder, or the macerated material is subjected
to mechanical squeezing in a press,producing
yucca juice. The juice is concentrated by
evaporation,with the concentrated product
referred to as yucca extract.
 PRODUCTION OF QUILLAJA
EXTRACTS
 Quillaja saponaria is a tree native to Chile.
Traditionally,the bark has been used as a
source of saponins. Newer
processingtechniques use the wood as well
(San Martin andBriones, 1999). The wood and
bark are boiled in large tanks, the water extract
is drawn off, and the extract is concentrated by
evaporation.
 SAPONINS & RUMINAL
FERMENTATION
 A consistent finding when YE is administered to
ruminants is a reduction in ruminal ammonia
concentrations . A major source of ruminal
ammonia is proteolysis of bacterial protein,
occurring as a result of ingestion of ruminal
bacteria by protozoa. Saponins have pronounced
antiprotozoal activity. The mechanism of the
antiprotozoal effects is that saponins form
irreversible complexes with cholesterol.
Cholesterol and other sterols are components of
the cell membranes of all organisms except
prokaryotes (bacteria). Thus, reductions in
ruminal protozoa numbers observed when
saponins are fed
 Both saponins and ionophores suppress Gram-
positive bacteria and protozoa .
 In the antiprotozoal activity, they act via
different mechanisms: saponins cause cell lysis
by interacting with cholesterol in the protozoal
cell membrane, whereas ionophores disrupt
ion transport. Ruminal protozoa are unable to
adapt to or detoxify saponins
 The mode of action of antibacterial effects of
saponins seems to involve membranolytic
properties, rather than simply altering the
surface tension of the extracellular medium.
Thus, their inhibitory activity is associated
with adsorption to microbes and is, therefore,
influenced by microbial population density.
 SAPONINS & PROTOZOAL
DISEASE
 Saponins are effective against protozoal
diseases that afflict humans, livestock, and
poultry. Those protozoal diseases in which
part of the life cycle occurs in the
gastrointestinal tract would be expected to be
responsive to antiprotozoal activity of
saponins.
 An example is the disease giardiasis, caused
by the protozoan Giardia lamblia (also known
as G. duodenalis). It is one of the most
common intestinal pathogens in humans and
animals throughout the world. Yucca saponins
are effective in killing the giardia tropozoites
in the intestine .
 yucca products are used in the horse feed
industry to relieve symptoms of arthritis in
horses. This use is based on work with
humans, suggesting that yucca saponins have
antiarthritic effects.
 CHOLESTEROL – SAPONIN
INTERACTION
 It has been known for many years that saponins form
insoluble complexes with cholesterol (Lindahl et al.,
1957). Saponins form micelles with sterols, such as
cholesterol and bile acids. The hydrophobic portion
of the saponin (the aglycone or sapogenin) associates
(lipophilic bonding) with the hydrophobic sterol
nucleus.
 It was demonstrated over 40 yr ago that dietary
saponin reduces blood cholesterol levels in chickens .
 Cholesterol-lowering properties of saponins in
humans are of obvious interest. There is little
clinical trial information. In 1978 there
observed a reduction in serum cholesterol
levels in human patients receiving yucca
tablets for arthritis relief. This seems to be the
only study reported in which a saponin product
has been given directly to human subjects.
 Saponins and the Immune System
 Saponins have the following implications in
immunology: 1) Quillaja saponins are widely
used as adjuvants in oral and injected
vaccines, 2) saponins improve the
effectiveness of orally administered vaccines
by facilitating the absorption of large
molecules, and 3) oral administration of
saponins increases the resistance of animals to
a disease challenge, suggesting that saponins
have immunostimulatory effects.
THANK YOU!!