Saponaria officinalis is an herbaceous perennial plant with abundant pink or white flowers. Commonly called soapwort, this plant contains saponins and has historically been used for washing. The Romans cultivated soapwort in gardens and around Roman baths. Extracts of soapwort were used recently during the cleaning of Shroud of Turin. Traditionally, soapwort was used as a laxative and purgative and for skin eruptions. However, the plant can be toxic when used internally and it is no longer used in herbal medicine.

A number of different saponins have been identified from S. officinalis, including saponarioside C, D, F, G, I, K, and L as well as vaccaroside D. Interestingly, saponin-rich fractions displayed inhibitions of Candida albicans germ tube formation, hyphal growth, adherence, and biofilm formation, which proposed anti-microbial activity of soapwort in cosmetics.