Talk:Sapindus

Latest comment: 3 years ago by Nø in topic Lychee

Topics edit

I agree, it should be merged.Brian1979 16:45, 6 April 2006 (UTC)Reply

I'll go ahead and merge them then. —Keenan Pepper 17:23, 6 April 2006 (UTC)Reply

==Soil Remediation Annotation Can someone provide some references for the claims that soapnuts are used in soil remediation? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.128.109.242 (talk) 00:47, 30 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

First Nations/Native American names edit

This is an important plant/berry in Pacific Northwest native cultures, mostly Interior Plateau; in the language area I'm from (St'at'imcets) it's called xoosum (pron. HOO-shum) and it's similar in Secwepemc and Nlaka'pamux; just wondering if there should be an ethnobotany and biobotanical section here with the various native names cited; and the recipes for making "Indian ice cream" and the cranberry-cocktail like drink (that's so refreshing, and good for your kidneys, too).Skookum1 23:19, 11 July 2006 (UTC)Reply

If you have verifiable sources, then by all means, be bold and start a new section! —Keenan Pepper 00:14, 12 July 2006 (UTC)Reply


Effectiveness of Soap Nuts edit

Hi there, I'm interested in people's experiences using Soap Nuts for laundry... Effectiveness of the different types of Sapindus plants, etc. Toxicity to animals and aquatic life, prevalence of saponin allergy amongst humans. Any takers ? Thx ! Rob TB 17:32, 7 September 2006 (UTC)Reply

We've tried them & liked them; that's just one datapoint though. rewinn 04:27, 2 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
Another data point: I like them so far, as well. But I'm not sold on their cost-effectiveness yet. Also, Allergy Relief With Soap Nuts and Saponins. have useful information that probably ought to be noted in the article using those links as citations, and Saponin goes a bit into the toxicity aspect. I'd be interested in the "effectiveness" of the different types, as well. -- Lewellyn talk 09:12, 14 December 2008 (UTC)Reply
My experience: normal dirt is taken if you wish white shirts take every fifth time an optical enlightener.= ordinary detergent.Bfinfo (talk) 21:15, 7 May 2008 (UTC)Reply


I find a number of articles saying that their effect isn't any greater than using just water at 40°C (104°F), and that their negative effect on the environment might be bigger than some commercial laundry detergents, since they are mainly grown in India and has to be shipped across the world.

Old World / New World edit

Do you guys think words like 'Old World' and 'New World' should be used anymore? Please change that. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Objecthood (talkcontribs) 22:41, 25 January 2007 (UTC).Reply

Agreed. I changed to Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere, which convey the same information in a more neutral manner. rewinn 04:27, 2 July 2007 (UTC)Reply
The terms are not interchangeable and your “correction” detracted from the informativeness of the article. The plants could grow in both hemispheres within a single country, but they could not grow in both the New and Old Worlds in a single country.
I fail to see how the terms are derogatory. I can understand that "third world" might conceivably cause offence, but given that the New World is almost entirely populated by descendants of the Old World, I would say that it is perfectly accurate description. User:LaFoiblesse:LaFoiblesse 2009-01-06 15h18 (GMT)

What? So does that just mean 'everywhere'? Old World/New World is a cultural term, not in use in much of the world, and not accurate in this case. Either say 'everywhere', or be specific - I don't think it's found in Australia or New Zealand, is it? Apparently they are 'New World'. How about, 'it is widely spread throughout Eurasia, the Americas, and the North Pacific' ? - ~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 121.72.207.203 (talk) 05:39, 8 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

Australia and New Zealand are not part of the New World. That is why the terms are so convenient to use in this situation. LaFoiblesse 2009-01-11 18h52 (GMT)

“Australia is neither New World nor Old, as flora and fauna differ markedly from those of Eurasia, Africa and the Americas.″LaFoiblesse 2009-01-11 18h58 (GMT)

Contradiction? edit

Could we get a clarification on how it is both antimicrobial and good for septic systems? Since septic systems depend on microbial health to do their job, asserting both things in the same sentence seems contradictory.

--Stacymckenna (talk) 20:17, 29 November 2007 (UTC)Reply

External Links edit

I have removed the following links:

I suspect they are using the article for self-promotion. Feel free to re-instate if I am wrong.

B. van der Wee (talk) 00:52, 17 December 2007 (UTC)Reply

I have added a new link that has some useful information from a US distributor of soap nuts, including how to use soap nuts and hypoallergic properties. Hopefully, someone can figure out how to incorporate the bits of that page which have encyclopedic content (perhaps the bits about the smell and that they can be used in high-efficiency washers, which often require special detergents) and use that URL as a citation. At the moment, I'm failing to figure out how to "make it work", so I will have to punt it to a more experienced editor.

-- Lewellyn talk 08:53, 14 December 2008 (UTC)Reply

Effectiveness in sewer edit

"Soap nuts are antimicrobial and are beneficial for septic systems and greywater." How are they beneficial? Currently this reads like product promotion, and I'd personally be interested in knowing in what way they benefit septic systems and greywater. Preston McConkie (talkcontribs) 02:56, 13 January 2008 (UTC)Reply

Production process e.g. chemical synthesis of detergent in an industrial process is saved! And so no waste water, no nutritional fat used for detergent production. Can simply be harvested. My professor called the green plants the chemical synthesizers of nature. They have effective processing!Bfinfo (talk) 21:22, 7 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

Translation from the German article edit

Could someone translate the "Wirkung" section in the German wikipedia article, to English? I don't know how it works with the Wikipedia translate request pages, and wonder if they are only for full articles, so I put the request here instead, hoping someone can translate German.Bib (talk) 18:11, 31 March 2008 (UTC) __________________________________ EffectReply

Research from journal "Öko-Test"(german) showed in 2003, soapnut give compared with ordinary detergents only mere results, very dependant from the sort oft contamination. Sometimes only the effect of hot water is reached.

A presentation of soapnut at 4th September 2007 in TV "Planet Knowledge"/Germany showed in contradiction that often conventional detergent may be replaced. Clothing becomes clean, softener can be saved.Its noted that the agents of the nut is not completely rinsed out because soapnut usually are added within a textile sachet and remain during the rinsing phase between the washdrum. Refering costs its very low and about 10 Euro-Cent per 4kg textile.

In european youth-research-concurrency 2007 an Exponate was shown, to demonstrate active agents are not completely biologically degradable, maximum 93 %. This was fewer than konventional wasching agents who are 98 % biologically degradable. In the review were no data about duration of test given,[1] what is interesting because a Test from Böhler Analytik GmbH showed 100% degradation but within 22 days (93 % after 6 days). [2]

It may be from interest that waterextract of soapnut seems to be antimycotic against different phytopathogene myces/moulds.

--bfinfoBfinfo (talk) 20:59, 7 May 2008 (UTC) 7-5-2008Reply

Snake Oil edit

The article needs cleanup. Read this:

Soap nuts, especially are used medically as an expectorant, emetic, contraceptive, and for treatment of excessive salivation, epilepsy, chlorosis, and migraines. Studies show that saponin from soap nuts inhibits tumor cell growth.

Come on, people... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.209.209.129 (talk) 17:34, 16 January 2009 (UTC)Reply

They forgot to mention that it is a powerful hallucinogen as well as a nuclear weapon of mass destruction, and if you snort it at midnight under a full moon in Pisces, it makes you invisible and able to fly. Succubus MacAstaroth (talk) 21:38, 3 March 2009 (UTC)Reply
So, how long should it sit without citations before we can remove the claims? --Synaptophysin (talk) 20:58, 21 July 2009 (UTC)Reply
Two points - first of all, many of these claims are "folk remedies". Though the effectiveness is not scientifically clear, there is definite evidence that local people do use the sapindus plants (and extracts of it) to treat those ailments. Secondly, modern scientific research has been conducted in some of these areas. I have tried to go claim-by-claim and find sources for each. (See my edits). I was not able to verify anything related to "HIV". I was not able to verify anything related to diabetes, though I did find this article which is incomprehensible to me. So, I removed all claims related to diabetes and HIV. Finally, I edited to make clear the distinction between "folk medicine" and "scientifically investigated effect." (As an aside- I had not even heard of sapindus or its medical uses until I saw this article, and I hate to see twelve or fifteen [citation needed] tags left unfixed - so I did some deep dive research here. Please feel free to follow up with me on my talk page if you have any comments). Nimur (talk) 04:20, 17 August 2009 (UTC)Reply

Lychee edit

How can Lychee (Litchi chinensis) not be on the list of species in the Lychee family?-- (talk) 10:25, 20 February 2021 (UTC)Reply