Abstract
Plants have been used as soap for many years to wash to keep clean, to wash linen, sheep skin and cloths. Plants are known to have been used as soap substitute by indigenous people, however the era in which this began is not known. There are abundant plants in southern Africa used ethnobotanically as soap substitutes, however, this information is located in different literature sources.The aim of this study was to investigate the current knowledge on the ethnobotanical uses and known chemical constituents of soap plants in southern Africa and then assess hitherto unstudied plants for the presence of alkaloids, saponins and terpenoids. Furthermore, the study aimed to quantify their saponin content, and evaluate their antimicrobial activity against skin pathogens, as well as examine toxicity levels...
M.Sc. (Botany and Plant Biotechnology)