SAPONIN BASED SURFACTANT FROM CICER ARIETINUM L. SEEDS: EXTRACTION AND CHARACTERIZATION

Piyush Kamdi*, Manoj Kumari More and Kavita R. Loksh

ABSTRACT

The objective of the present investigation was to extract saponin rich fraction of Chickpea and assess its ability to exhibit surfactant action. The extraction efficiency initially increased on increased the strength of ethanol from 50% to 70% but it decreased tremendously when the strength was increased to 100%. It was found that the maximum saponin content was present in the extract obtained using 70%v/v of aqueous ethanol. The results reveal solubility of extract from 70% ethanol in water, and protic solvents like ethanol and methanol whereas the content from other solvents were found to be soluble also in chloroform suggesting presence of components other than saponin in them. The foam stability was calculated using formula and it was found that the foam formed was 35.29% stable in the extract obtained from 70% ethanol as solvent. The conductivity was found to increase in the 50% extract with increasing extract concentration whereas it decreased in the 70% and 100% ethanolic extracts. The pH of all the extract solutions was found to be in the acidic range. For determining the cleaning ability of the extract, the effect of extract solution on simulated dirt was studied. It was clear that cleaning performance increases with an increase in saponin concentration.

Keywords: Saponin, Surfactant, Cicer arietinum, Cleaning ability, Foaming.