saponin

English

Etymology

sapon- +‎ -in

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsæpənɪn/

Noun

saponin (plural saponins)

1. (organic chemistry, biochemistry) Any of various steroid glycosides found in plant tissues that dissolve in water to give a soapy froth.
   • 1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 111:

     “Saponins aren't absorbed by the intestines. You've got to get the stuff into the blood.”

   • 2015, Beth Terry, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too‎^[1], Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     Soapnuts are the dried fruit of a tree called Sapindus mukorossi (Chinese Soapberry) and contain saponin, a natural surfactant that foams just like soap.

Derived terms

• agapanthussaponin
• agavasaponin
• anemarrhenasaponin
• anemarsaponin
• asparasaponin
• asteriosaponin
• asterosaponin
• brodiosaponin
• cantalasaponin
• convallasaponin
• diospolysaponin
• floribundasaponin
• hederasaponin
• hellebosaponin
• kalopanaxsaponin
• onjisaponin
• parisaponin
• phytosaponin
• pingpeisaponin
• polypodasaponin
• saikosaponin
• sarsasaponin
• soyasaponin
• theasaponin
• timosaponin
• tribulosaponin
• xiebaisaponin
• xilingsaponin
• yayoisaponin

 

Translations

steroid glycoside

• Catalan: saponina f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皂苷 (zàogān)

• Esperanto: saponino
• Finnish: saponiini (fi)
• French: saponine (fr) f
• Ido: saponino (io)
• Italian: saponina (it) f
• Kazakh: сапонин (saponin)
• Portuguese: saponina (pt) f
• Russian: сапони́н (ru) m (saponín)
• Spanish: saponina f
• Turkish: saponin