Bath and Body Products - Ritha or Soapnuts are commonly used as natural shampoo in India. Ritha grows wild in the Himalayas, and has been in use as a shampoo or a mild soap for centuries.
Soap nuts contain a natural soap called saponin. They have been in use, as a body soap or shampoo, for thousands of years- across the globe. Today, soap-berries are being considered for commercial use in cosmetics and detergents, among many other products. They are a popular ingredient in Ayurvedic shampoos and cleansers.
Soap-nuts are also used in Ayurvedic medicine for treatment for eczema, psoriasis, freckles and removal of lice from the scalp. Another application for soap-nuts is for cleaning jewelry. They are used by the gold-smiths and silver-smiths in India to de-tarnish silver and other precious metals.
Genus- Sapindaceae. The shrub is native to warm temperate to tropical regions. The leaves are alternate, 15–40 centimetres (5.9–16 in) long, pinnate, with 14-30 leaflets, the terminal leaflet often absent. The flowers form in large panicles, each flower small, creamy white. The fruit, called a soap nut, is a small leathery-skinned drupe 1–2 centimetres (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, yellow ripening blackish, containing one to three seeds.
Species
Sapindus delavayi (China, India)
Sapindus detergens (syn. var. Soapnut, Ritha)
Sapindus drummondii (syn. S. saponaria var. drummondii) Western Soapberry (southwestern United States, Mexico)
Sapindus emarginatus Vahl Southern Asia
Sapindus marginatus Florida Soapberry (Florida to South Carolina); included in S. saponaria by some authors.
Sapindus mukorossi Gaertn. Chinese Soapberry (Southern China west to the Himalayas)
Sapindus oahuensis Hillebr. ex Radlk. Lonomea (Hawaiʻi endemic)
Sapindus rarak DC. (Southeast Asia)
Sapindus saponaria L. Wingleaf Soapberry (southeastern United States, Caribbean, island of Hawaiʻi, Central and South America)
Sapindus tomentosus (China)
Sapindus trifoliatus L. South India Soapnut or Three-leaf Soapberry (Southern India, Pakistan)
Sapindus vitiensis A.Gray (American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji)
Sapindaceae, also known as the soapberry family, is a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales. There are about 140-150 genera with 1400-2000 species, including maple, horse chestnut and lychee.
Source- Wikipedia
Check out our Cosmetics and Beauty products and our TopSellers, Hotsellers, Best Seller Lists
