Read soapwort

Last updated on: 12.02.2025

Dieser Artikel auf Deutsch

Requires free registration (medical professionals only)

Please login to access all articles, images, and functions.

Our content is available exclusively to medical professionals. If you have already registered, please login. If you haven't, you can register for free (medical professionals only).


Requires free registration (medical professionals only)

Please complete your registration to access all articles and images.

To gain access, you must complete your registration. You either haven't confirmed your e-mail address or we still need proof that you are a member of the medical profession.

Finish your registration now

DefinitionThis section has been translated automatically.

The red soapwort belongs to the clove family (Caryophyllaceae), is a herbaceous plant 40-80 cm tall, with pink, carnation-like, cushion or carpet-like flowers, shallow roots with runners. Flowering time: June to October, fruit ripening: September to October.

The root is used phytotherapeutically, see Saponaria rubrae radix.

Commission E Monograph: for the root: see under Saponariae rubrae radix

Herbal medicine: as an expectorant, diuretic, cholagogue, antirheumatic, externally for skin diseases and catarrh.

Cosmetics: Saponaria offcinalis extract (INCI), the drug from the roots and leaves, is used as a natural surfactant in cosmetic formulations. Its use is not recommended due to its toxic and sensitizing effects:

LiteratureThis section has been translated automatically.

  1. https://www.naturadb.de/pflanzen/gattung/seifenkraeuter/
  2. Montag A (2023) Plants and skin. Springer-Verlag GmbH. P. 881-882. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-63014-3_7
  3. https://www.awl.ch/heilpflanzen/saponaria_officinalis/seifenkraut.htm

Last updated on: 12.02.2025