Surface Activity of Crude Ginseng Saponin

The critical micelle concentration (CMC) of crude ginseng saponin in water was determined by fluorometry and surface-tension measurement. These two methods gave the the CMC value, 0.015g/100ml AND 0.013G/100ml, respectively. The surface excess of the saponin and the area occupied by a saponin molecule at the monolayer adsorbed at air and waterinterface were calculated employing Gibbs adsorption equation. The presence of salt increased the surface activity of the saponin: it decreased the CMC, the surface tension at the CMC and the area occupied by a saponin molecule at the monolayer, which should be due to the salting-out effect of the salt.