Issue 4, 2024

Glycyrrhizic acid aggregates seen from a synthetic surfactant perspective

Abstract

Bio- or plant-based surfactants are a sustainable and renewable alternative to replace synthetic chemicals for environmental, drugs and food applications. However, these “green” surfactants have unique molecular structures, and their self-assembly in water might lead to complex morphologies and unexpected properties. The micellization of saponin molecules, such as glycyrrhizic acid (GA), differs significantly from those of conventional synthetic surfactants, yet these differences are often overlooked. Saponins self-assemble in complex hierarchical helical morphologies similar to bile salts, rather than the expected globular, ellipsoidal and wormlike micelles. Here, we review two potential routes for molecular self-assembly of GA, namely kinetics of crystallization and thermodynamic equilibrium, focusing on their structure as a function of concentration. Some uncertainty remains to define which route is followed by GA self-assembly, as well as the first type of aggregate formed at low concentrations, thus we review the state-of-the-art information about GA assembly. We compare the self-assembly of GA with conventional linear surfactants, and identify their key similarities and differences, from molecular and chemical perspectives, based on the critical packing parameter (CPP) theory. We expect that this work will provide perspectives for the unclear process of GA assembly, and highlight its differences from conventional micellization.

Graphical abstract: Glycyrrhizic acid aggregates seen from a synthetic surfactant perspective

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
06 okt 2023
Accepted
19 dek 2023
First published
23 dek 2023
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 2806-2814

Glycyrrhizic acid aggregates seen from a synthetic surfactant perspective

P. Fischer and V. Lutz-Bueno, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 2806 DOI: 10.1039/D3CP04835G

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements