Abstract

COMPARITIVE ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT MARKETED SOAPS AVAILABLE IN INDIA

Dr. A. Seetha Devi*, Mrs. Syed Meraj Sultana, Sambangi Ravindra, Thathireddy Kasi Reddy and Yekula Drakshavalli

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Abstract

Soaps are made up of sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids, produced by saponification process. Soaps became essential part of our life and are used on daily basis. The physicochemical properties of soaps regulate their quality and hence their efficiency and cleansing properties. So, it is important to analyse and assess the quality of the soaps that are sold in the local markets. Hence in the present research work 10 different commercial soaps available in India were analysed for their physical and chemical properties. Physicochemical assessment of different evaluation parameters like matter insoluble in alcohol, moisture content, total fat matter, free caustic alkalinity, pH and total alkali content were estimated. Based on comparative studies, the results obtained for matter insoluble in alcohol ranged between 39.8 to 53.9%, for moisture content between 5.6 to 14.8%, for total fatty matter between 68.4 to 77%, alkali content between 1.31 to 3.04% and pH of the soaps between 9.01-10.1. The different characteristics for all the soap samples analyzed were found to be within the acceptable limits and are found to be safe for daily use.

Keywords: Soaps, Physico-Chemical Assessment, Alkali Content, Total Fatty Matter, Moisture Content.