Classification and Application of Natural Surfactants

NEW YORK - Dec. 22, 2019 - PRLog -- Natural surfactants are widely used in daily life and science. Most of the natural surfactants come from animal and plant organisms, and are relatively complex high molecular organic substances. Most natural surfactants have high viscosity and emulsion stability and are widely used in medicine, food, cosmetics and detergents.

Lecithin

Lecithin is present in biological cells such as the eggs, brain and other tissues of animals as well as in plant seeds or germs. Lecithin has an amphiphilic structure. And it has excellent physiological activities such as emulsifying, dispersing and anti-oxidation, and is an excellent natural surfactant and an important emulsifier.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a natural emulsifier found in animal brain and nervous tissues as well as lanolin and egg yolk. The molecular structure of cholesterol has a strong hydrophobicity and is therefore suitable for the preparation of oil-soluble emulsifiers. The sebum secretion in the skin is rich in cholesterol and its derivatives, which have the functions of skin care and hair care.

Lanolin

Lanolin is the secretion of the sebaceous glands of sheep, mostly extracted from wool. The emulsion prepared from lanolin and its derivatives is easy to absorb by the skin, has good stability and good emollient properties, so it is mostly used in creams and oily emulsions.

Tea saponin

Tea saponin is an extract of tea, a triterpenoid saponin with strong surface activity and resistance to hard water. Tea saponin has many functions such as emulsification, decontamination, wetting, dispersion, and foaming.

Protein

The protein is composed of amino acids, containing both a hydrophilic group and a hydrophobic group, and is a polymeric surfactant. Protein is an essential nutrient for the body and is often used as a food emulsifier. There are many kinds of proteins, such as milk protein, egg protein, casein, soy protein, etc.

Phytosterol

The phytosterol can be extracted from soybean oil and composed of sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, VE and the like. It has similar physicochemical properties to cholesterol, has a weak surface activity, and also has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and hair care effects.

Alkyl glycoside

Alkyl glycosides are synthesized from sugars. Alkyl glycosides have weak skin irritation, broad-spectrum antibacterial properties, and good compatibility with other types of surfactants.

Saponin

The saponin (https://www.alfa-chemistry.com/saponin-cas-8047-15-2-item...) is composed of a sapogenin and a sugar, and the sugar which can constitute the saponin includes glucose, galactose, rhamnose, arabinose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid and the like. According to different structures, sapogenin can be divided into triterpenoid saponins and steroidal saponins, wherein the distribution of triterpenoid saponins is more extensive and more diverse than steroidal saponins.

Carbohydrate

The natural degrading power of carbohydrate natural surfactants (https://www.alfa-chemistry.com/products/surfactant-124.htm) is weak, but most of them have thickening, emulsifying and stabilizing effects. Carrageenan is a widely used co-emulsifier.