What is tea saponin?

What Is Tea Saponin?

Tea saponin, also known as tea saponin, is a glycoside compound distributed in the roots, stems, leaves and seeds of tea trees. Its aqueous solution can produce persistent foam when shaken, similar to soap bubbles. When brewing tea, especially the first brew, these bubbles often appear on the tea soup. Tea saponin tastes bitter and spicy, and has a very strong foaming power, even if the water is very hard. Generally speaking, the richer the foam, the richer the taste of the tea. However, the content of tea saponin in tea is actually very low, accounting for about 0.1% of dry tea.

The content of tea saponin is actually related to many factors. Tea with a deeper degree of fermentation, such as Wuyi rock tea and Pu'er tea, has a higher content of tea saponin. The content of tea saponin in different tea tree seeds is also different, and the content in tea seeds is the highest.

What Are The Functions Of Tea Saponin?

1.Surface activity

Tea saponin is one of the important functional ingredients in tea, and has good surface activity. Simply put, tea saponin has excellent decontamination properties, so many manufacturers extract tea saponin from tea seeds to make cleaning products such as laundry detergent and dishwashing detergent. In daily life, many people will collect tea dregs and use them to scrub oil stains on clothes, or scrub mirrors, glass, doors and windows, furniture and other items.

2.Anti-inflammatory and analgesic

In terms of physiological effects, tea saponin has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Tea saponin can normalize the permeability of blocked capillaries in the initial stage of inflammation, thereby achieving the effect of anti-osmosis and anti-inflammatory.

3.Liver protection

Tea can sober up, and tea saponin also plays a role. Tea saponin can also inhibit the liver's absorption of alcohol, reduce the alcohol content in the blood, and promote the digestion of alcohol in the blood, which has the effect of protecting the liver.

4.Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory

Tea saponin has the effect of inhibiting Escherichia coli and skin fungi. Therefore, drinking tea regularly can play a role in sterilization. Applying tea on the skin can also treat general dermatitis and relieve the symptoms of skin itching.

5.Improve the hematopoietic system

Tea saponin contains nutrients, which are very important for the human body's red blood cells. It can effectively remove harmful substances and garbage in the blood, quickly promote blood circulation and improve hematopoietic function. If you often lack qi and blood, taking tea saponin can enhance myocardial blood supply and warm the body and stomach.

What Is The Application Of Tea Saponin?

Application in daily chemical industry

As a natural product, tea saponin is a rare surfactant material in the daily chemical industry. Tea saponin can be used as shampoo and hair care shampoo by using its surface activity. Experiments show that the product has the dual effects of shampooing and hair care. After washing, the hair is shiny and feels good, and it is actually non-toxic and safe to use. Tea saponin detergent can also be developed, which can be used for both shampooing and bathing, and has the effects of hair care and skin care. Tea saponin is applied to floral water, which has special effects on mosquito bites, anti-inflammatory, anti-itching and analgesic.

Tea saponin can also be used for washing clothes. The naturalness of tea saponin and its non-destructiveness to protein and cellulose make tea saponin have unparalleled advantages in washing wool, silk, down, etc., such as low stripping ability, no shrinkage, and no loss of gloss of fabrics.

Application in aquaculture

In shrimp farming, tea saponin can be used as a pond cleaner to kill harmful fish by utilizing its hemolytic and fish poisoning effects, but it has no effect on shrimp, and saponin is not absorbed by the human stomach, so people can use it with confidence.

Pesticide industry

Tea saponin has bactericidal, insecticidal, anthelmintic, fruit and vegetable preservation, and plant growth regulating effects. It can be used as a suspending agent and wetting agent in solid pesticides.

Building materials industry 

Studies have shown that stabilizers developed using tea saponin can significantly reduce the surface tension of the solution, enhance the stability of the aerated concrete slurry process, and increase the product strength by an average of about 20%.Tea saponin can also be used in foam drilling, foam drainage, and other aspects.