# Sapindus

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sapindus
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Sapindus.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindus
> Source revision: 1356705937
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the lychee family Sapindaceae}}
{{distinguish|Soapnet}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Sapindus marginatus.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Sapindus marginatus](/source/Sapindus_marginatus)'' shrubs
| taxon = Sapindus
| authority = [L.](/source/Carl_Linnaeus)
| synonyms = 
*''Didymococcus'' {{small|Blume}}
*''Dittelasma'' {{small|Hook.f.}}
*''Electra'' {{small|Noronha}}
|synonyms_ref = {{R|POWO}}
| type_species = Sapindus saponaria
| type_species_authority = L.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40029469 |title=''Sapindus'' L. |website=Tropicos |publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = See text
}}

'''''Sapindus''''' is a genus of about thirteen species of shrubs and small trees in the lychee family,<!---Introducing this genus as belonging to soapberry family is nonsensical, since it contains the only species known as soapberries. I would use maple as a representative of the family, but the placement of Acer in it is rather recent and not completely agreed upon.---> [Sapindaceae](/source/Sapindaceae) and tribe [Sapindeae](/source/Sapindeae). It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. The genus includes both [deciduous](/source/deciduous) and [evergreen](/source/evergreen) species. Members of the genus are commonly known as '''soapberries'''<ref name="ITIS">{{ITIS |id=28695 |taxon=''Sapindus'' |accessdate=2010-11-01}}</ref> or '''soapnuts''' because the pulp of the fruit is used to make soap and shampoo. The generic name is derived from the Latin words {{Lang|la|sapo}}, meaning "soap", and {{Lang|la|indicus}}, meaning "of India".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIOvJSJs-IkC |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |title=CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology |volume=IV R-Z |year=2000 |publisher=Taylor & Francis US |isbn=978-0-8493-2678-3 |page=2381}}</ref>

The leaves are alternate, {{convert|15|-|40|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, [pinnate](/source/pinnate) (except in ''S.&nbsp;oahuensis'', which has simple leaves), with 14–30 leaflets, the terminal leaflet often absent. The flowers form in large [panicle](/source/panicle)s, each flower small, creamy white. The fruit is a small leathery-skinned [drupe](/source/drupe) {{convert|1|-|2|cm|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} in diameter, yellow ripening blackish, containing one seed. Fossils date back to the [Cretaceous](/source/Cretaceous).<ref>{{cite web |title=Langley, north (Cretaceous of the United States) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicCollectionSearch?collection_no=210094&is_real_user=1 |website=The Paleobiology Database |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200907214923/https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicCollectionSearch?collection_no=210094&is_real_user=1 |archive-date=7 September 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=W. A. |title=Flora of the Upper Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island, British Columbia |journal=Geological Survey of Canada Memoir |date=1957 |volume=293}}</ref>

== Ecology ==
''Sapindus'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some [Lepidoptera](/source/Lepidoptera) (moths and butterflies) species including ''[Endoclita malabaricus](/source/Endoclita_malabaricus)''. Kernel extracts of soapnut disrupt the activity of enzymes of larvae and pupae and inhibit the growth of the mosquito ''[Aedes aegypti](/source/Aedes_aegypti)'', an important [vector](/source/vector_(epidemiology)) of viral diseases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/soapnut-mosquito-repellent|title=Soapnut, a mosquito repellent|work=Down To Earth|access-date=2011-03-28|archive-date=2012-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012135325/http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/soapnut-mosquito-repellent|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Uses ==
[[File:Soapnut as a natural dye.jpg|thumb|Soapnut is used with natural dyes to color the yarn of [Tasar silk](/source/Tussar_silk).]]
[[File:Sapindus emarginatus in Hyderabad W IMG 4650.jpg|thumb|upright|''[Sapindus emarginatus](/source/Sapindus_emarginatus)'' leaves, India]]

The drupes (soapnuts) contain [saponin](/source/saponin)s, which have [surfactant](/source/surfactant) properties, being used for washing by ancient Asian and American peoples.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eS7lX_rC3GEC |title=Florida Ethnobotany |first=Daniel F. |last=Austin |publisher=CRC Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8493-2332-4 |pages=601–603}}</ref><ref name="Anti-leishmanial">{{cite journal |title=Highly potent anti-leishmanial derivatives of hederagenin, a triperpenoid from Sapindus saponaria L. |journal=European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry |date=November 2016 |doi=10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.08.030 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0223523416306730 |last1=Rodríguez-Hernández |first1=Diego |last2=Barbosa |first2=Luiz C.A. |last3=Demuner |first3=Antonio J. |last4=De Almeida |first4=Raquel M. |last5=Fujiwara |first5=Ricardo T. |last6=Ferreira |first6=Sebastião R. |volume=124 |pages=153–159 |pmid=27569196 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> A number of other uses for ''Sapindus'' have also been reported such as making arrows from the wood and decorative objects from the seeds.<ref name="SapindusAZ">{{cite journal |title=Soapberry (''Sapindus'') in Arizona |journal=Phytoneuron |date=November 2020 |url=http://www.phytoneuron.net/2020Phytoneuron/78PhytoN-SapindusArizona.pdf}}</ref> 

=== Folk medicine ===
Leaf and fruit extracts of ''Sapindus'' have historically been used in folk remedies to treat various conditions.<ref name="upadhyay">{{cite journal |author=Upadhyay A, Singh DK |year=2012 |title=Pharmacological effects of ''Sapindus mukorossi'' |journal=Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo |volume=54 |issue=5 |pages=273–280 |doi=10.1590/s0036-46652012000500007|pmid=22983291 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Dyeing process ===
Soapnut is used as a scouring agent for preparation of coloring fibers such as the yarn of [Tussar silk](/source/Tussar_silk) and cotton.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://biolifejournal.com/327%20ANJALI%20DESHMUKH%20599-604.pdf|title=''Sapindus emarginatus'' Vahl as a natural scouring agent in dyeing of cotton with ''Carissa carandas'' leaf extract|last1=Deshmukh|first1=Anjali|last2=Bansal|first2=Lekhika|journal=BioLife |volume=2|issue=2|pages=599–604|year=2014|archive-date=2017-08-11|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811101439/http://biolifejournal.com/327%20ANJALI%20DESHMUKH%20599-604.pdf}}</ref>

== Species ==
[[File:Sapindus emarginatus in Hyderabad W2 IMG 4648.jpg|thumb|upright|''[Sapindus emarginatus](/source/Sapindus_emarginatus)'' drupes in [Hyderabad, India](/source/Hyderabad%2C_India)]]
[[File:Western Soapberry.jpg|thumb|upright|''[Sapindus drummondii](/source/Sapindus_drummondii)'', the Western Soapberry: drupes]]

{{As of|2026|3}}, ''[Plants of the World Online](/source/Plants_of_the_World_Online)'' includes 20 species:<ref name="POWO">{{cite web |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:331930-2 |title=''Sapindus'' Tourn. ex L. |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |year=2026 |access-date=5 March 2026}}</ref>
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
*''[Sapindus balicus](/source/Sapindus_balicus)'' {{small|Radlk.}}
*''[Sapindus chrysotrichus](/source/Sapindus_chrysotrichus)'' {{small|Gagnep.}}
*''[Sapindus delavayi](/source/Sapindus_delavayi)'' {{small|(Franch.) Radlk.}}
*''[Sapindus drummondii](/source/Sapindus_drummondii)'' {{small|Hook. & Arn.}}
*''[Sapindus emarginatus](/source/Sapindus_emarginatus)'' {{small|Vahl}}
*''[Sapindus marginatus](/source/Sapindus_marginatus)'' {{small|Willd.}}
*''[Sapindus marikuru](/source/Sapindus_marikuru)'' {{small|A.R.Franck}}
*''[Sapindus motu-koita](/source/Sapindus_motu-koita)'' {{small|A.R.Franck}}
*''[Sapindus mukorossi](/source/Sapindus_mukorossi)'' {{small|Gaertn.}}
*''[Sapindus oahuensis](/source/Sapindus_oahuensis)'' {{small|Hillebr. ex Radlk.}}
*''[Sapindus oocarpus](/source/Sapindus_oocarpus)'' {{small|Radlk.}}
*''[Sapindus rarak](/source/Sapindus_rarak)'' {{small|DC.}}
*''[Sapindus saponaria](/source/Sapindus_saponaria)'' {{small|L.}}
*''[Sapindus sonlaensis](/source/Sapindus_sonlaensis)'' {{small|H.M.Tam, N.K.Khoi, N.T.Cuong & T.B.Tran}}
*''[Sapindus standleyi](/source/Sapindus_standleyi)'' {{small|A.R.Franck}}
*''[Sapindus thurstonii](/source/Sapindus_thurstonii)'' {{small|Rock}}
*''[Sapindus tomentosus](/source/Sapindus_tomentosus)'' {{small|Kurz}}
*''[Sapindus tricarpus](/source/Sapindus_tricarpus)'' {{small|(Blanco) A.R.Franck}}
*''[Sapindus trifoliatus](/source/Sapindus_trifoliatus)'' {{small|L.}}
*''[Sapindus vitiensis](/source/Sapindus_vitiensis)'' {{small|A.Gray}}
}}

=== Formerly placed here ===
*''[Lepisanthes fruticosa](/source/Lepisanthes_fruticosa)'' <small>(Roxb.) Leenh.</small> (as ''S. fruticosus'' <small>Roxb.</small>)
*''[Lepisanthes senegalensis](/source/Lepisanthes_senegalensis)'' <small>(Juss. ex Poir.) Leenh.</small> (as ''S. senegalensis'' <small>Juss. ex Poir.</small>)
*''[Lepisanthes tetraphylla](/source/Lepisanthes_tetraphylla)'' <small>(Vahl) Radlk.</small> (as ''S. tetraphylla'' <small>Vahl</small>)
*''[Talisia cerasina](/source/Talisia_cerasina)'' <small>(Benth.) Radlk.</small> (as ''S. cerasinus'' <small>Benth.</small>)
*''[Talisia esculenta](/source/Talisia_esculenta)'' <small>(A.St.-Hil.) Radlk.</small> (as ''S. esculenta'' <small>A.St.-Hil.</small>)<ref name="GRINSpecies">{{cite web |url=https://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/splist.pl?10707 |title=GRIN Species Records of ''Sapindus'' |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2007-04-30 |access-date=2010-11-01}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
*{{Commons category inline}}
*{{Wikispecies inline}}
* [http://www.pureindia.com/soapnut.htm Flora of India: ''Sapindus'']
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=129159 Flora of Pakistan: ''Sapindus'']
* [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=3&taxon_id=129159 Flora of China: ''Sapindus'' species list]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q321451}}

Category:Sapindus
Category:Sapindaceae genera
Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sapindus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapindus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.