Decolorization for extracts from fruit of Sapindus saponaria L. applied to the manufacture of cleaning products

Abstract

   Soapberry has been used as a detergent for a long time, and saponins in soapberry act as a natural surfactant. However, the extract is usually yellow-brown or dark-brown, limiting its applicability in some cleaning products. Hydrogen peroxide was used as a decolorization agent to improve the color of the extract. In this study, the seedless soapberry was dried and crushed. The mixture of ethanol-water (11) was then added. The ratio of raw material and solvent was 110 (g/mL). The mixture was stirred at room temperature for 6 hours. The orthogonal matrix L₉ (3⁴) consisted of 9 experiments to optimize the influence factors such as hydrogen peroxide concentration, temperature, time, and pH. The results obtained a decolorization rate is 91.73 % and a total saponin loss is 6.47 % at 6 % hydrogen peroxide concentration, temperature 80 ⁰C, time 80 minutes, and pH =  8.