Use of Natural Antioxidants from Newfoundland Wild Berries to Improve the Shelf Life of Natural Herbal Soaps

Evaluation of physical parameters and spectral characterization of the quality of soaps containing by-products from the food industry

The present study investigated several properties such as friction, hardness, penetration work, and cutting forces in soaps formulated with apple and carrot pomace at varying concentrations of 5%, 10%, and 15%. To gain insights into the molecular-level alterations within the formulated soap samples, they were spectroscopically analyzed using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The sliding friction analyses revealed that the investigated extrudate additives had no significant impact on the frictional forces of the soaps. However, notable differences were observed in the cutting force, hardness, and penetration work between the control and pomace-added samples. Excluding the control samples, no statistically significant distinctions were found between the cutting force, hardness, and work of penetration of soaps containing apple pomace and carrot pomace. Moreover, the quantity of pomace incorporated did not induce any significant variations in the results. The obtained samples were characterised at the molecular level using FTIR Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. On the other hand, alterations in band intensities suggested improved molecular packing of the compounds within the samples due to the presence of the additives.

Environmental impact of increased soap consumption during COVID-19 pandemic: Biodegradable soap production and sustainable packaging

A year into the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the role of washing hands with soap and hand disinfectants is unavoidable as a primary way to control the infection spread in communities and healthcare facilities. The extraordinary surge in demand for handwashing products has led to environmental concerns. Since soaps are complex mixtures of toxic and persistent active ingredients, the prudent option is to promote eco-friendly replacements for the current products. On the other hand, with the increase in soap packaging waste production, soap packaging waste management and recycling become essential to reduce environmental impact. This systematic review aimed to collect some recent methods for identifying biodegradable and sustainable raw materials to produce and package cleaning agents, especially soap.

Reused Plant Fried Oil: A Case Study with Home-Made Soaps

The study aimed to analyze the possibility of waste frying oil utilization in home-made soap production. Soaps were made from unheated and fried rapeseed, sunflower and palm oils that had total polar material (TPM) values up to 24%. Physicochemical and microbial analyses were performed on produced samples to check their quality. The hardness increased with the degradation level of rapeseed and palm oils, and opposite findings were obtained for sunflower-made soaps. The highest malondialdehyde (MDA) contents were recorded for sunflower oil-made samples, with the maximum of 6.61 µg/g, and the lowest for the palm oil-made samples, with the maximum of 0.94 µg/g. The antimicrobial assessment showed no significant (p > 0.05) differences between control soap samples and soaps made of oils with the highest TPM value. Gram-positive bacteria (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: MRSA) were the most sensitive chosen microorganisms, compared to Gram-negative bacteria and yeasts. The obtained results did not show exact differences between experimentally produced soap samples from fried or not fried oils; these findings highlight the potential of home-made soap production from this byproduct.

Physicochemical Characterization of Home-Made Soap from Waste-Used Frying Oils

The study aimed to describe the utilization of waste frying oils, originated mainly from households, in home-made soap production and to emphasize the advantages of soap biodegradation in comparison to biological treatment of oils. The physicochemical analyses of soaps were used to check the differences between the samples made of fresh and fried oils. Significant (p < 0.05) difference between the soaps made of fresh/fried olive oil pair was obtained, while the rapeseed sample pair did not differ significantly (p < 0.05). Malondialdehyde (MDA) exhibited notable differences with an increase from 1.94 μg/g to 2.33 μg/g for olive oil fresh/fried pair and from 3.43 μg/g to 4.10 μg/g for rapeseed–palm oil fresh/fried pair. The studies addressing the soap biodegradation process revealed that soaps are degrading up to four times faster than oils in waste processing plants. Literature data showed the syntrophic ways of soap degradation and degradation solely done by sulfate-reducing bacteria. Obtained results, same as literature data, indicated that soaps produced from fried plant oils represent acceptable products from the economic and environmental point of view. Soap production can be considered one of the possible ways toward reduction of waste oil disposal.