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plural saponins
(organic chemistry, biochemistry) Any of various steroid glycosides found in plant tissues that dissolve in water to give a soapy froth. quotations examples
“Saponins aren't absorbed by the intestines. You've got to get the stuff into the blood.”
1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 111
Soapnuts are the dried fruit of a tree called Sapindus mukorossi (Chinese Soapberry) and contain saponin, a natural surfactant that foams just like soap.
2015, Beth Terry, Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, Simon and Schuster