Shikakai
Discover Shikakai for hair, its saponins, traditional cleansing role, scalp research, hair-growth evidence and important safety considerations.
Origin
China to Tropical Asia, including India and much of South and Southeast Asia. (Plants of the World Online)
Traditional wisdom
Botanical hair cleansing
Why Soumm chose it
Natural cleansing and removal of excess oil and surface residue
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Acacia concinna (Willd.) DC.; currently accepted by Kew as Senegalia rugata (Lam.) Britton & Rose. (Plants of the World Online)
- Common names
- Shikakai, Shikakai fruit, Soap-pod, Satala
- Source type
- Scrambling/climbing shrub
- Part used
- Dried fruit pods
- Natural constituents
- Saponins, including triterpenoid saponins; phenolic compounds and flavonoids. (PubMed)
- Scalp relevance
- Cleansing; preliminary evidence for improvement of some scaling and inflammatory scalp symptoms
- Evidence status
- Best supported as a botanical cleanser; limited clinical evidence for scalp benefits; hair-growth claims remain unestablished