Aleppo soap
Aleppo soap , even Syrian laurel soap , French Savon d'Alep , arabic Sabun al-Ghar or Sabun Halabi (صابون حلبي), is an in and around Aleppo , now outside Syria produced soap from olive oil of and a variable proportion of fatty oil of berries (and possibly leaves) of the real laurel . As the product is made without coloring, artificial flavors, perfumes, stabilizers or other synthetic substances, Aleppo soap is a natural soap.
Manufacturing
Originally, the comparatively mild, aromatic-spicy scented as well as fine-pored and weakly foaming Aleppo soap was a simple curd soap . It has been made by soap makers in and around Aleppo (Syria) during the "cold" months from November to March for many centuries (possibly since the 8th century AD) . Today, most of them are exported to Europe and East Asia as natural cosmetics , although business has declined significantly as a result of the civil war in Syria .
The traditional artisanal production takes place as follows: Olive oil is boiled over floor kettles on an open fire for up to three days with frequent stirring to around 200 ° Celsius . For the saponification step are water and soda -Asche supplied. The olive oil is split into glycerine and sodium salt . Shortly before it is completely salted out , the bay oil is added, the proportion of which usually varies between two and 40 percent, rarely up to 60 percent of the amount of oil; this increases the firmness of the soap when it is later dried, the fine-pored foaming when it comes into contact and rubbing with water and the moisturizing and antibiotic effect when used on skin and hair. During production, depending on the recipe, medicinal and aromatic herbs as well as aromatic oils (e.g. rose oil ) are added. After boiling, the soda lye is drained off. The soap is then “washed” with fresh water until it is free of alkali. After this water has also been drained off, the soap stays overnight to cool and drain. The green soap paste is then removed from the kettle and tipped and smoothed onto a smooth, foil-lined floor surface. The soap hardens and dries out there for at least 24 and up to 40 hours. The hardened mass is then cut into rectangular bars of soap. After cutting, the pieces are sealed with a traditional die . Stacked on wooden pallets with gaps in between, this is followed by six to nine months of airy, dry storage, which, in addition to further drying and hardening, causes the soap bars to oxidize on the outside and thus take on a patina with a light, honey- to sand-colored tone, while its core is the original greenish one Essentially retains color.
Effects and possible uses
For body cleansing , skin care and wound healing , the ancient Greeks and Romans used laurel soap, which has high levels of linoleic acid and is rich in vitamins A and E as well as minerals such as potassium , magnesium and calcium . The laurel oil in particular means that the soap acts as an astringent , antibiotic and antifungal on the skin, in addition to cleaning , as well as stimulating and moisturizing. It was used medically against scabies , lice infestation , psoriasis , nail bed inflammation , acne and eczema ( neurodermatitis ). It is also said to provide relief from common insect bites and abrasions as well as bruises , sprains and rheumatic complaints. It is also used for hair washing (including beard washing ) and against dandruff . However, some people have an allergic reaction to bay oil, which contains the contact allergen costunolide in particular . The potentially allergenic sesquiterpene lactones dehydrocostus lactone , eremanthin , laurenobiolide and zaluzanin D can also be contained in the oil and thus in the soap in different degrees. The pH value of the soap, the fatty acids of which are unsaturated and are absorbed and absorbed by the skin, is 8 and 9. This makes the soap one of the products of alkaline skin and hair care. Aleppo soap is sometimes used to wash clothes, to clean fur, leather and household textiles, to clean teeth or as a shaving soap , and also as a repellent against insects (e.g. in wardrobes). When stored in a dry place between 0 and 40 ° Celsius, the soap retains its quality for several years.
European and German federal law
In order to “preserve public health”, the European Economic Community, through Directive 76/768 / EEC, prohibited its member states from placing cosmetics containing laurel oil on the market (Annex II, No. 359). This was followed in 2009 by EC Regulation No. 1223 (laurel oil there also in Appendix II, “List of substances that are prohibited in cosmetic products”, No. 359). In this respect, the production, distribution and trading of the laurel oil-containing Aleppo soap as a cosmetic product could be officially prohibited within the European Union . Production, distribution and trading of the product for other purposes, such as cleaning agents and repellants , remain unaffected. The German Cosmetics Ordinance (Appendix 1, No. 359), however, only prohibits the use of the “oil from the seeds” of laurel in cosmetic products. It has not been clarified whether a translation error was made during the implementation into national law. Due to the ambiguous definition of the oil mixture and the unclear legal situation, Aleppo soap is still being offered as a cosmetic without any official intervention with regard to the laurel oil ban in question being known.
literature
- fr: Françoise Cloarec , photographies de Marc Lavaud, préface de fr: Gérard Oberlé : L'âme du savon d'Alep . Les Éditions Noir sur Blanc (Groupe Libella), Paris 2013, ISBN 978-2-88250-298-8 (203 pages).
- Sandra Cramm: Soap classics. From Aleppo to dental soap with 100 recipes from 200 years of soap tradition . ISBN 978-3-8391-1916-7 , Norderstedt 2012, p. 41.
- Alessandra Giuliani: The Laurel tree in Syria . International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), Washington, DC (USA) 2004 ( PDF ).
Web links
- Mey Dudin: Aleppo soap: organic soap from the war zone. In: qantara.de , February 22, 2017
- Aleppo soap (part 1). In: Historische-aleppo-seife.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Organic soap from the war zone. In: spiegel.de , February 13, 2016, accessed June 11, 2017.
- ↑ costunolide. In: chemischemlexikon.de , accessed on June 11, 2017.
- ↑ Bay leaf oil. In: chemischemlexikon.de , accessed on June 13, 2017.
- ↑ Laurel, real. In: enzyklopaedie-dermatologie.de , accessed on June 13, 2017.
- ↑ Laurus nobilis. In: Spektrum.de , accessed on June 13, 2017.
- ↑ Directive 76/768 / EEC of the Council of July 27, 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to cosmetic products In: eur-lex.europa.eu , accessed on June 12, 2017.
- ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1223/2009 of the European Parliament and the Council of November 30, 2009 on cosmetic products. (PDF) In: eur-lex.europa.de , accessed on June 12, 2017.
- ↑ Federal Institute for Risk Assessment : 73rd, 74th and 75th meeting of the preliminary commission for cosmetic products: conference report of November 20, 2008 . P. 5 f. ( PDF ).