Sapindus

{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants in the lychee family Sapindaceae}} {{distinguish|Soapnet}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Sapindus marginatus.jpg | image_caption = ''Sapindus marginatus'' shrubs | taxon = Sapindus | authority = L. | 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, Sapindaceae and tribe Sapindeae. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the world. The genus includes both deciduous and 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 (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 {{convert|1|-|2|cm|abbr=on|sigfig=1}} in diameter, yellow ripening blackish, containing one seed. Fossils date back to the 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 (moths and butterflies) species including ''Endoclita malabaricus''. Kernel extracts of soapnut disrupt the activity of enzymes of larvae and pupae and inhibit the growth of the mosquito ''Aedes aegypti'', an important vector 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>

The drupes (soapnuts) contain saponins, which have 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 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>

{{As of|2026|3}}, ''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'' {{small|Radlk.}} *''Sapindus chrysotrichus'' {{small|Gagnep.}} *''Sapindus delavayi'' {{small|(Franch.) Radlk.}} *''Sapindus drummondii'' {{small|Hook. & Arn.}} *''Sapindus emarginatus'' {{small|Vahl}} *''Sapindus marginatus'' {{small|Willd.}} *''Sapindus marikuru'' {{small|A.R.Franck}} *''Sapindus motu-koita'' {{small|A.R.Franck}} *''Sapindus mukorossi'' {{small|Gaertn.}} *''Sapindus oahuensis'' {{small|Hillebr. ex Radlk.}} *''Sapindus oocarpus'' {{small|Radlk.}} *''Sapindus rarak'' {{small|DC.}} *''Sapindus saponaria'' {{small|L.}} *''Sapindus sonlaensis'' {{small|H.M.Tam, N.K.Khoi, N.T.Cuong & T.B.Tran}} *''Sapindus standleyi'' {{small|A.R.Franck}} *''Sapindus thurstonii'' {{small|Rock}} *''Sapindus tomentosus'' {{small|Kurz}} *''Sapindus tricarpus'' {{small|(Blanco) A.R.Franck}} *''Sapindus trifoliatus'' {{small|L.}} *''Sapindus vitiensis'' {{small|A.Gray}} }}

=== 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.)<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