Saponinas de Chenopodium quinoa como emulgente biodegradable aplicado a una crema limpiadora facial

Abstract

Many pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and agricultural products use emulsifiers or surfactants as excipients. Most of these products are synthetic and present issues related to toxicity and lack of biodegradability. In contrast, natural compounds such as saponins—secondary metabolites found in plants—also exhibit emulsifying properties. Due to the environmental and economic impacts associated with synthetic emulsifiers, this research focused on evaluating natural alternatives as potential replacements. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a plant cultivated in the Andean region of Ecuador, making it an accessible raw material from which saponins can be obtained for the development of cosmetic products. Therefore, saponins extracted from Chenopodium quinoa were used at different concentrations (0.5% to 1.5%) to determine their ability to replace synthetic emulsifiers such as sodium lauryl sulfate. Zero-time stability tests were conducted, including evaluations of syneresis, droplet size, pH, and spreadability. The formulation containing 1% quinoa saponins showed homogeneous dispersion, appropriate droplet size, absence of coalescence, and absence of syneresis. Therefore, it can be concluded that this formulation would allow the production of cosmetic products free from toxic effects and the disadvantages associated with synthetic emulsifiers.