Common soapwort

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Common soapwort
Common soapwort (Saponaria officinalis)

Common soapwort ( Saponaria officinalis )

Systematics
Eudicotyledons
Nuclear eudicotyledons
Order : Clove-like (Caryophyllales)
Family : Carnation family (Caryophyllaceae)
Genre : Soap Herbs ( Saponaria )
Type : Common soapwort
Scientific name
Saponaria officinalis
L.

The Common soapwort ( Saponaria officinalis ), also Genuine soapwort , soap root or washing root called, is a plant from the genus of soap herbs ( Saponaria ) within the family of Caryophyllaceae (Caryophyllaceae). It is widespread in Eurasia .

The plant, which is poisonous for some animals, was previously used as a detergent. Today it is still used in natural medicine, for which purpose it is mainly cultivated in China, Iran and Turkey.

description

illustration
Five-fold bloom in detail
Capsule fruits and seeds

Appearance and leaves

The common soapwort is a perennial herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 30 to 80 centimeters. It forms highly branched, subterranean runners that grow into finger-thick rhizomes . The primary root is thickened like a beet. The upright, mostly unbranched stem is softly haired and densely leafy. The cross-opposed, simple leaves are three to five-nerved and ovate to lanceolate with a length of 5 to 10 centimeters.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from June to October. In the axils of the stem leaves there are dense, trugdoldige ( dichasium ) inflorescences . The weakly fragrant flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope . The sepals are fused into a 20 to 25 millimeter long calyx tube. The five undivided, pink to white petals form a circle a good 2 centimeters in diameter and a small secondary crown at the mouth.

The fruit ripens from September to October. The dry capsule fruits open at the top with four teeth. The black-brown, rough seeds are relatively small with a length of about 1.5 millimeters and round to slightly kidney-shaped.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 28.

ecology

The common soapwort is a hemicryptophyte (stem plant). Vegetative reproduction takes place through long-creeping rhizomes, so that larger stocks can form, for example in the gravel of railway tracks on wasteland.

From an ecological point of view, it is a question of formerly male "plate flowers with (little) protruding anthers and stigmas". First the outer stamens bloom, then the inner ones, and finally the style. The scent of flowers is strongest in the evening and at night. Flower visitors are especially moths , as well as pollen-eating bees and hover flies . The nectar is released at the base of the 2 cm long petal nails enclosed by the calyx.

The spread of the diaspores takes place as a wind and animal spreader , with the cup serving as a vestibule.

Occurrence

Common soapwort is widespread in the temperate zones of Europe, Siberia, Western Asia and the Caucasus, and Asia, Madeira, and Western Siberia . In North America, it was naturalized by immigrants in the 19th century and is a neophyte there and in Madeira, South America, Australia, New Zealand and northern Europe.

The common soapwort thrives in Central Europe mostly at altitudes of around 700 meters. In Baden-Württemberg, however, the species occurs near Fischbach (Schluchsee) at 980 meters above sea level. The common soapwort is found quite often in weed meadows, especially in floodplain landscapes ( river valley plant ), on river banks, dams, gravel banks, also on paths and debris areas. It thrives best on nutrient-rich, mostly fresh stone, sand or gravel soils .

According to the ecological pointer values ​​of Ellenberg , it is a semi-light plant, a freshness pointer, a weak acid to weak base pointer on moderately nitrogen-rich locations. The Ordinary soap herb is in Central Europe, a federation characteristic species halbruderaler pioneer and loose lawn companies (Convolvulo-Elymion (= Agropyrion) repentis), but also comes in companies of the associations Dauco-Melilotion, Arction or Salicion albae ago.

Use and ingredients

The common soapwort is recommended for wild plant gardens . In gardens you can also find a shape with double flowers.

Formula of gypsogenin

All parts of the plant contain (in the roots 3 to 8%) triterpene saponins with the aglycon quillajic acid . The main components are saponarioside A, B, C, F and G in addition to other saponariosides (such as gypsogenin ).

Medical use

The dried roots and rhizomes are used as medicinal drugs , less often the herbaceous parts of the (common) soapwort. The plant parts have traditionally been used as expectorants for bronchitis with tough, dry secretions since ancient times . There are also ready-made preparations for this . It should be noted that, like all saponin drugs, soapwort can induce vomiting in higher doses and is therefore slightly toxic. In tumor treatment , the vegetable protein toxin saporin, also obtained from soapwort, was used in tests .

Soap herb as a cleaning agent

The common soapwort is a cultural companion and was probably planted since the Neolithic . Because of the active washing effect of their ingredients, extracts from rhizome and roots were used as soap substitutes (plant name) until the 19th century. That is why the common soapwort was cultivated in Europe until the beginning of the 20th century. In Slovakia, items of laundry are still soaped with cut pieces of rhizome.

Today, environmentally conscious companies and private individuals use soapwort solution to clean carpets and upholstery, for example.

Soapwort solution is used in restoration workshops to clean historical textiles and furniture.

Food additive

Soapwort is used as a whipping agent, for example in the production of halva .

photos

  • Habitus

  • Opposite, simple leaves

  • inflorescence

  • inflorescence

  • Section of an inflorescence

  • Fruit cluster

  • Seeds

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oskar Sebald : Guide through nature. Wild plants of Central Europe. ADAC Verlag, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-87003-352-5 , p. 74.
  2. ↑ a b c Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  371 .
  3. ↑ a b Saponaria in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  4. ^ Siegmund Seybold : Caryophyllaceae, carnation plants. In Oskar Sebald u. a .: The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. 2nd edition, Volume 1, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 3-8001-3322-9 , p. 452.
  5. ↑ Albert Gossauer: Structure and reactivity of biomolecules . Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta, Zurich 2006, ISBN 978-3-906390-29-1 , p. 132.
  6. ↑ a b Jürgen Reichling, Marijke Frater-Schröder, Reinhard Saller, Julika Fitzi-Rathgen, Rosa Gachnian-Mirtscheva: Medicinal Herbology for Veterinary Practice . Springer-Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-662-48795-2 , pp. 244 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  7. ↑ Martha Haussperger : Did empirical medicine exist in the Near East before Hippocrates? In: Würzburger medical history reports 17, 1998, pp. 113–128; here p. 121 f.
  8. ↑ C. Bachran: The saponin-mediated enhanced uptake of targeted saporin-based drugs is strongly dependent on the saponin's structure. In: Exp. Biol. Med. 231 (4), 2016, 412-420.
  9. ^ Günter Wagner: detergents - chemistry, environment, sustainability . John Wiley & Sons, 2011, ISBN 978-3-527-64366-0 , pp. 50 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  10. ↑ See the description of the restoration work on the Maurus reliquary.
  11. ^ Who Regional Office for the Eastern Medi: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Generic Models for Some Traditional Foods: A Manual for the Eastern Mediterranean Region . World Health Organization, 2010, ISBN 978-92-9021-590-5 , pp. 46 ( books.google.de ).
  12. ↑ LGL report 2008, quoted from the Information Service of the Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Offices (CVUA) (PDF).

Web links

Commons : Common Soapwort ( Saponaria officinalis )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files