Economic importance of Gypsophila L., Ankyropetalum Fenzl and Saponaria L. (Caryophyllaceae) taxa of Turkey

Gypsophila L. is the third biggest genus of Caryophyllaceae family in Turkey. The genus has 55 species in the country. 33 species are endemics and total number of the taxa is 58. Ankyropetalum Fenzl is a small genus with 3 species and 1 of them is endemic. Saponaria L. has 20 taxa of 18 species and 10 taxa of them are endemics to Turkey. Turkey is the gene center of all the genera. All of the genera are known as coven, female coven and halva root and developed roots or rhizomes are economically very important. Extract produced from the roots are known as fire extinguisher, gold polishing, cleaner and softener of delicate fabrics and crispness giving to halva. The extracts are often used for making liqueur, herbal cheese, ice cream and some foods. Some taxa are Boron (B) hyperacumulators, so they can be planted and used for destroyed agriculture to control erosion. Gypsophila paniculata L. is very important in horticulture. Gypsophila bicolor, Gypsophila arrostii, Gypsophila perfoliata, Ankyropetalum gypsophiloides and Saponaria officinalis L. are very important because of their saponin contents. In this paper, economic importance of the plants in the light of our observations and literatures was given.


INTRODUCTION
Turkey is known as a gene center of many economic plants.There are 32 genus and about 500 species of the Caryophyllaceae family (Davis, 1967;Güner et al., 2000).It is reported that there are many species of Gypsophila L. growing in Turkey, Caucasia, north Iraq and north Iran.75 of 126 Gypsophila species in the world are found in these regions.In Turkey, there have been 55 Gypsophila species in 10 sections (Inan, 2006;Korkmaz, 2007;Korkmaz and Özçelik, 2011).In the world, Ankyropetalum Fenzl genus has 4 species and 3 of them are grown in Turkey.Saponaria L. has 20 taxa of 18 species and 10 taxa are endemic to Turkey (Huber-Morath, 1967).The gene center of all of the genera is Turkey (Özçelik and Muca, 2010;Korkmaz and Özçelik, 2011).The main purpose of this study was to *Corresponding author.E-mail: korkmazmustafa67@ yahoo.com.
give detailed knowledge about the importance and the areas where the plants were used.
In general, soaproot (or soap worth) is the name of woody roots of some perennial Gypsophila, Saponaria and Ankryopetalum species.However, it is reported that Saponaria is not used as soaproot in Turkey (Kiliç et al., 2008).According to Ivanov et al. (2005) Saponaria officinalis that is also known as soaproot and its rhizomes are obtained from soils in autumn and dried in shade and used for similar purposes.Saponin ratio of the root parts is about 20% (Kiliç et al., 2008).
Ankyropetalum Fenzl is represented by 3 species in Turkey.One of these is endemic and the others are rare.The genus is essentially pervasive in south-west Asia including Turkey.Regarding the phytogeography the genus grows in the south-east part of Turkey; that is in Irano-Turanian and Mediterranean regions (Özçelik and Özgökçe, 1995;Afifi and Abu-Irmaileh, 2000).The species belonging to the Ankyropetalum genus in Turkey are Ankyropetalum arsusianum Ky, Ankyropetalum reuteri Boiss and Hausskn (endemic) and A. gypsophiloides.The genus is found in south-east Anatolia and its neighbor countries in borders (Davis, 1967;Özçelik and Özgökçe, 1995;Afifi and Abu-Irmaileh, 2000).
S. officinalis L. is the most known species and called as "Sabunotu, Tıbbi sabunotu, Karga sabunu and Köpürgen" by local public.It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, and also grown as a source of soap on account of its saponin-rich rhizomes and leaves.It distributes between 0 to 2000 m roadsides, stream sides, damp woods and shady places in natural habitats.It is also planted in public parks, gardens, graveyards, city roadsides etc.All of the taxa belonging to Ankyropetalum, Gypsophila and Saponaria genera are generally known as "Çöven, Çöğen, Çeğen, Dişi çöven, Çöven otu and Helva kökü, Tarla çöveni, Helva çöveni, Şark çöveni" and used for different purposes by the public.Ankyropetalum members look like perennial Gypsophila species and they are distinguished hardly from Gypsophila.They are known as the same name and used for the same purposes.In Europe, Gypsophila species are widely known as "Baby's Breath".For the word Gypsophila "soaproot" or "soapworth" terms are used.
Petrorhagia alpina (Habl.)Ball and Heywood from Caryophyllaceae family are also known as soaproot by the public.Roots of the plants are used for soaproot production and medicinal purposes such as urine remover, transpirator, body temperature degreaser, body relaxer, moviter and myx remover (Öztürk and Özçelik, 1991).Acantholimon Boiss.spp.(Pişik geveni) from Plumbaginaceae family, Astragalus L. spp.(Geven), Onobrychis cornuta (L.) Desv.from Fabaceae family and Scorzonera rigida Aucher (Dağ çöveni) from Asteraceae family are used as soaproot in East Anatolia region.Their upper parts are used as fuel material and under soil parts are sold as soaproots.But, their roots do not have saponin chemicals (Baytop, 1984).
It was reported that the saponins are found in the different parts of the plants in different doses.They were first obtained from the rhizomes of S. officinalis L. and are called "saponin" (Baytop, 1984).It is reported that as the roots of soaproot are obtained from various Gypsophila species, the saponin amounts in the roots which are used in the trade differs between 4 to 10% and 20 to 25% (Sezik, 1982).Used as Turkish soaproot in the G. bicolor (Van Çöveni), the saponin amounts have been found to be 20 to 25%, in the G. arrostii var.nebulosa (Konya Çöveni, Beyşehir Çöveni, Isparta Çöveni) 19 to 22%, in the G. perfoliata (Niğde Çöveni) 15 to 19% and in the Gypsophila eriocalyx (Çorum -Yozgat Çöveni) 10 to 14% (H´erold and Henry, 2001).They have found out that in the G. paniculata L. the saponins are synthesized only in the roots and then moves through the other parts of the plant.In the dried material there is nearly 4% saponin content.It is reported that related with the soaproot originated from Anatolia, the amount of raw saponin is changing from 10 to 25% and in the researches on the taxa of G. bicolor, G. perfoliata var.anatolica, G. venusta subsp.venusta, G. eriocalyx and G. arrostii var.nebulosa; the amounts of saponin are 19.58, 14.44, 12.65, 12.39 and 11.58%, respectively (Battal, 2002) and the amounts of protein are 8. 01, 7.80, 8.38, 8.15 and 6.92%, respectively (Đnan, 2006).It is stated that in the roots of G. paniculata species, the synthesis of saponin has been increased considerably with the effect of the uridine 5'-diphospho (UDP)-glucuronosyltransferase enzyme.In order to define the activity of this enzyme which has a versatile role in the plant, G. paniculata species would be a good model plant (H´erold and Henry, 2001).
Gypsophila taxa contain 15 to 20% saponin glycoside and also contain gypsogenine which is a pentacyclic and sugars as galactose, ksilose, arabinose, fructose and rhamnose.Their rhizomes are dirty white in colour, perpendicular acute lined, slightly smelling and bitter in taste.The underground parts and leaves have bubbling character as soap.The roots and rhizomes are taken out from the soil in early and late springs and are dried under the sun.Finally soaproot is produced by breaking the rhizomes into pieces (Maranki and Maranki, 2008;Battal, 2002).The extract of soaproot is composed of sugar, resin and saponin.Saponins are highly molecular glycosides which have the characteristic of dissolving in water.It keeps the plant away from germs and fungus and in some species it increases the nutritional value of the plant as well as simplifying the digestion (Anonymous, 2010a).

Uses in food industry
It is known that root parts of A. gypsophiloides were formerly exported from Siirt and Batman and are known as "Helva kökü, Çöven otu, Sabun otu and Helva otu".It is especially used in preparing a local food called "Siirt sweet".A. reuteri is called "çöven" by the local public around Gölbaşı (Adıyaman) and it is used for animal feeding by mixing with straw (Özçelik and Muca, 2010;Baytop, 1984;Öztürk and Özçelik, 1991).Apart from these, it is utilized for the production of delight and icecream.In Thracian region, because of its characteristic of whitening wax and its power to make crisp soaproot, it is utilized in the "köpük halvah" which has a white and spumy form.Furthermore, in some parts of Turkey while making "hellim cheese" some soaproot is cooked and added to the brine so that the cheese does not spoil (Korkmaz, 2007;Anonymous, 2010a;Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, 1991).Some genotypes of G. arrostii var.nebulosa are economically important taxa in Beyşehir (Konya) and it is called as "dişi çöven" (female soaproot) because of its fast multiplying character.Underground parts of the other soaproots known as "erkek çöven (male soaproot)" are not widely used in trade.They have saponin, resin and sugar in their rhizomes.Because they are widely used in production of "tahini halvah" in Turkey and near east, they are called "helvacı çöveni (halvah soaproot)".In some cities of Turkey and Cyprus during the preparation of "hellim cheese" which is boiled and salted, some soaproot is added to its water to prevent spoiling.In Thracian region, a white spumy halvah known as "köpük halvah" is produced by soaproot (Battal, 2002).In the Eastern Anatolia, the underground parts of some soaproots are used in preparing a local and original type of food "herbal cheese" (Korkmaz, 2007;Özçelik andÖzgökçe, 1999, 1995).The use of extract of soaproot is the first obligation for making "tahin helvası (halvah)".Otherwise, it is impossible to make the halvah crisp.In Mersin (especially in Erdemli town), it is specially used in preparing a local food called as "Kerebiç sweet" by local people.This food is in the form gel, in high saponin level and very expensive.It is prepared with milk in special days and times by local people (especially in Ramadan month).
It is stated that the delight obtained by mixing syrup whitened by soaproot extract with pure delight is called "sultan delight" and the maximum saponin amount should be 0.1% (Đnan, 2006).The main reasons why soaproot is most preferred for the halvah production are because, the saponin in the soaproot whitens the sugar wax, saponin softens the sugar and makes it like sponge and it has a function like emulgator by enabling the sesame oil to mix with sugar.In halvah production, the amounts used are 52 to 65% tahin, 35 to 48% sugar, 0.5% soaproot, respectively (H´erold and Henry, 2001).
In the production of "köpük halvah" soaproot and sugar are boiled in water and added after it takes the wax form.

Korkmaz and Özçelik 9535
Soaproot water is used in production of "köpük halvah" which is half-liquid and has a little hard stiffness.When adding soaproot water there are two points to be taken into consideration; first, its amount should not exceed the average level and second, just after adding soaproot the pot should be covered, otherwise the air absorbed leads to over-bubbling.When making "köpük halvah", it can be used about 60 to 65% glucose syrup, 30 to 35% water and 0.01% soaproot water (Anonymous, 2010a).Saponin content of soaproots that keeps the plants from germs and fungus increases the nutritional value of the plants as well as simplifying the digestion.As a result of this, they are used for preparing çöven bread.The extract of soaproot (juice) is used for preparing local bread named as "Çöven Ekmeği" in Bartın and its neighbor cities. Soaproot increases the volume of the bread about 10%, it increases softness of the bread and decreases oldness and it also decreases the total number of microorganisms, yeasts and molds in bread (Çağlayanlar, 2006).

Uses in chemistry and hygiene Industry
Soaproots are also used in the manufacturing of saponin which is a valuable chemical substance (Korkmaz, 2007;Babaoğlu et al., 2004).Saponins are components which have pervaded in wide districts and are in the form of heavy molecular steroidal or triterpenoid glycosides.Also, they have a great biological activity on plants, insects, fungus and microorganisms.Their lower doses help the plants to develop their roots however, higher doses decrease root growing (Inan, 2006).Çevrimli (1990), reported that because of the negative impacts of alkyl and aril sulfanat types of detergents on environmental pollution and human health, the usage of saponin present in G. arrostii var.nebulosa as an active surface substance of detergent will be more beneficial and the saponin present in the plant will be easily used as an active surface substance in both extinguishers and soap industry.Saponin in rhizomes of the plant is about 18% (Inan, 2006).
Since soaproot has a good characteristic of bubbling, it is being utilized for soap, shampoo materials or fabric softener in hygiene industry.The silky and delicate fabrics and the deteriorated fabrics are better cleaned using the cool water obtained from boiled under-ground parts of the soaproots.Fabrics or clothes are cleaned by being dipped into the cool water obtained and are kept for a few hours without spoiling their colours and brightness.Moreover, in some regions they are used to clean the wool obtained from animals (Korkmaz, 2007;Anonymous, 2010a;Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, 1991).The under-ground parts of G. arrostii var.nebulosa have been used as a cleaner and a removal of stain since ancient times.(Babaoğlu et al., 2004).The taxon is also used for cleaning houses, furniture and clothes.It is a hard cleaner (Özer, 2009).
Roots of S. officinalis and Quercus ash are used for transpirating, scabies disease and preventing baldness.Trabzon date (Diospyros kaki L.) is used as cleaner because of its saponin content.Aerial parts of Alcea apterocarpa plant (Fatmagül in Turkish) are used for cleaning laundry and as fabric cleaner.The gum obtained from Scorzonera eriophora is used to hinder mouth scent and to clean the tooth.In addition to these plants, there is saponin in Sambucus L. spp., Thymus L. spp., Rosmarinus officinalis L., Borago officinalis L., Viola L. spp.and Verbascum L. spp.(Yentür et al., 2002).Seeds of S. officinalis L. and leaves of Morus nigra L. are used for cleaning of organic dirt by people in Mediterranean region.Most of these plants are poisonous and some of them are used as spice.

Uses in medicine
It is reported that in the anthrax vaccine which is against anthrax disease seen among animals and which is produced in Turkey, the saponin amount has been found to be 0.1 to 0.5%.It has been found out that saponins are in the seeds, limbs, leaves, flowers and roots of plants and that when the plants containing saponin are eaten by animals, the bitter-flavored saponins have irritated mucosa cells in throat.Such types as G. paniculata and G. arrostii var.nebulosa are used as a cough and respiration system diseases deterrent besides being used as a myx remover (Đnan, 2006).Soaproot has some features such as urine remover, exudative and myx remover (Anonymous, 2010a).As for drug, it has a function in some drugs compound when they are brewed because of its characteristics such as myx and urine remover (Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, 1991).It is also used to lower body temperature.The water obtained from boiled and cooled soaproot is used for the treatment of liver and kidney diseases (Maranki and Maranki, 2008).S officinalis is known by the names; "Sabunotu, Tibbi sabunotu, Karga sabunu and Köpürgen in Turkish".It is used as myx and urine remover.Also, it is a drug for cough, bronchitis, stomach disorders, bone deformations, rheumatism, pimples, skin diseases, bile disorders, liver problems and respiratory system diseases (Ivanov et al., 2005).

Antimicrobial and toxic effects
Saponin has an antimicrobial effect and prevents the plants from some insects in soil.Besides this, it is estimated that it has an important role of increasing the plant resistance to disease in some parts of plants.It is reported that the soil in which the saponin containing plant grows, there has been found to be saponin in certain amounts and this saponin in the soil has some impacts on some bacteria.It has been found that soil bacteria such as Aquaspirillum dispar and Aquaspirillum spp., have been in great numbers in the roots of G. paniculata.In the search of antiviral impacts of Gypsophila species, it has been expressed that G. arrostii var.nebulasa, G. bicolor, G. perfoliata and G. eriocalyx species have impacts on Vesicular stomatitis virus.They have no impact on Parafainfluenza type-1 virus.G. bicolor species has effectiveness against the other viruses (Poliovirus type-1, Herpes simplex type-1, type-2, V. stomatitis and Influenza A 2 ) except Parafainfluenza type-1 virus (Đnan, 2006).
Saponin chemicals may have toxic effect on humans.During saponin biosynthesis, there is retarded growth of leaves in the plant.In fact, these chemicals may be toxic to the plants.But, the plants can supply these chemicals in a harmless way.In the case of the spread of these chemicals in to the environment, other plants do not grow nearby (Poslu, 2006).
Saponins can have strong degree complex with cholesterol and this situation leads to hemolysis in cells.So, saponins are kept in vacuoles (Poslu, 2006) and saponins which have toxic effects are called Sapotoxin.They have no toxic effect if they are taken by oral way.However, saponins injected into the blood vessel are at least 10 times more toxic.Toxicity level of saponins is 50/100 mg/kg body weight.The poison effect depends on the rate of absorption of intestine.Saponins could not be absorbed easily in the blood (Çağlayanlar, 2006).

Uses in horticulture
Gypsophila species are regarded as one of the most important alternatives of product diversification in the sector of flower cutting.G. paniculata is used as fresh and dry cut flower and attract attention as being one of the most indispensable elements of arrangement and bouquet in domestic market (Đnan, 2006;Korkmaz, 2007).
It has been reported that in Eurasia continent, there have been found to be 125 species of Gypsophila and the most significant of those to be used as ornamental plant is G. paniculata.Although the plant is perennial, it has been grown annually and that because it cannot enable blossoming in short time and because it has no genetic evolution, it is more advantageous to multiply it by cutting.It has been expressed that G. paniculata has a great importance in the trade of cut flower.Although with the reparation studies, the desired plants have been obtained from these plants whose seeds are cultivated.The desired plants will not be able to obtain and that they may have genetic evolution so the plants should be grown with vegetative organs.They have found that in the G. paniculata species which is used in horticulture, their harvest should have done when their petals have exceeded 50% blossoming, the vase lifespan in plants has reached about 55 days with the blossoms of buds in vase and that during 82 days, the flower harvest can be done on plants.In G. paniculata species which is used in horticulture, in the flower buds, the flowers should be harvested when they blossomed 30% and so the vase lifespan increases.They have informed that because there is much more the floral deportation obtained in unit area for the production of G. paniculata, it is recommended to cultivate it around coastal parts of the Mediterranean region (Đnan, 2006).Species in Section Capituliformes of genus Gypsophila have high potential in the sector of flower cutting.But, nowadays the species are not grown in Turkey.S. officinalis is produced in cemeteries, in gardens of the houses and in parks and gardens of the cities for nice looking flowers and good smells in high amount.Other Saponaria species also have high importance in saponin level but S. officinalis is being preferred only in the horticulture.

Uses in mining
As a result of the studies on natural growing of four Gypsophila species in the district of boron (B) mine in Eskişehir Kırka, it has been observed that G. sphaerocephala Fenzl ex Tchihat.var.sphaerocephala and G. perfoliata have been the first ones which have a characteristic of a potential boron hyper accumulator.These species grow successfully in concentrations as high total soil boron (8900 mg/kg) and suitable soil boron (277 mg/kg).As a result of the analysis conducted, it has been found out that the upper soil parts of the G. sphaerocephala contain boron in extremely high concentrations (in seeds; 2093 ± 199 SD mg/kg, in leaves; 3345 ± 341 SD mg/kg).But in roots it has contained far less concentrations of boron (51 ± 11 SD mg/kg).In the respect of Boron amount, this has been followed by G. perfoliata.Boron contents of Gypsophila species have been given in Table 1.It has been stated that by growing G. sphaerocephala in the soils which have some signs of high Boron toxin, vegetative mining can be conducted by hyper accumulation.So, the soils containing Boron in toxic amounts can be refined by vegetative ways (Yentür et al., 2002).In this way, the agricultural fields in which fertilizers have long been used can be prevented to become barren and during reparation process it will be possible to evaluate the Korkmaz and Özçelik 9537 agricultural fields which have become dormant.Hyper accumulator plants are thought to be potential cleaning tools for these toxic areas and many studies are continuing on the topic.The name of this new technology is Fitoremediasyon (Hakkı et al., 2006).

Other uses
Apart from these, the cool water obtained from the boiling of soaproot under-ground parts is used in the process of whitening gold and treasures.Furthermore, this solution is used as a spray in the structure of film emulsion and extinguishers.It is known that the rhizomes of perennial soaproot sold to Israel from Isparta and extractions of them are used in the production of fire extinguishers (Korkmaz, 2007;Babaoğlu et al., 2004).The most important characteristics of the soaproots are fire extinguisher and their usages in the structure of fire enduring materials.
A Turkish researcher named Faruk Durukan from Edremit (Balikesir) town produced a fire extinguisher that is made by converting rocks to liquid and adding soaproot extract to this liquid.He stated that this solution was used for forest fires in Greece and Turkey in 2009 and successful results were gained.The success was published by multimedia organizations in a number of days.

PICKING, DRYING AND STORING THE UNDERGROUND PARTS AND EXTRACT PRODUCTION
The under-ground parts of the plants are generally utilized; from just after the precipitation season to the time of plant's fruit, that is, between May and July the plants are picked.The local public utilizes its root when its leaves are on land area or when they are in the time of blossoming, they can distinguish Gypsophila species between others and they can extract its rhizomes by means of such tools as anchor.Because of the unconscious picking of under-ground parts of the plants, they are endangered.The parts which are picked are cleaned and after washing them, they are dried under the sun.In order to dry well and in order to enable some fresh air during this process the rhizomes should not be laid down thick.The under-ground organs are brought in bundles and are stored in suitable, dry and moisture free places (Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, 1991).
It was reported that some dryness have been found in the roots of soaproot plants which can be grown in barren and hillside areas because of extreme damp and it is not suitable to harvest them before four years old.Their trade  (Babaoğlu et al., 2004).
situation should be considered before harvesting and if necessary the product should be waited in the field until the roots extracted by fork or tractor plough have dried in 2 to 3 months and from 2.5 kg raw root to about 1 kg dry root has been obtained and that in one decade of field totally, 4000 to 5000 kg dry roots are extracted (Đnan, 2006).
For the production of soaproot extract, approximately 30 kg of soaproot is boiled some time in water.After that the upper part of the water (extract) is filtered and the process is repeated 5 times.This process takes nearly 20 h and at the end of this, 50 L soaproot extract is produced (Velioğlu, 2001;Korkmaz et al., 2010).

TRADE OF SOAPROOTS AND THEIR STANDARDIZATION
There is not a general accepted standard for roots of soaproot but they can be classified in different qualities in terms of commercial purposes.According to where they grow: Those growing in Van-Isparta are of the first quality, those obtained from Niğde are of second quality and those obtained from Yozgat-Çorum are of third quality (Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, 1991).
In the usage of soaproot for industry, the hemolysis and bubble indexes of them; as for food industry the bubble indexes are of importance.So, in the quality evaluation, these rates should be taken into consideration.Both the bubble and hemolysis indexes of Van (G.bicolor) and Isparta-Beyşehir soaproot (G.arrostii var.nebulosa) are high.Also their raw saponozoide rates are more than the others (Table 2).
There is still Van soaproot (G.bicolar) on market and is sold as being the first quality.The oldest commercial soaproot is this species, so its populations have been greatly damaged.Isparta-Beyşehir soaproot (G.arrostii) has decreased extremely on the market.But this species has been produced in fields (Atabey Plain) by some farmers.Furthermore, Isparta Regional Directorate of Forestry cultivated about 15 to 20 kg seeds 3 years ago in order to be a financial support to Sütçüler and Aksu villagers in the future and enable the continuation of the species generation.The hemolysis index of Niğde soaproot (G.perfoliata var.anatolica) is high but its bubble index and raw saponozoide percentage is low.
Despite its features similar to first quality, it should be regarded as second quality.Çorum-Yozgat soaproot (G.eriocalyx) is one type of soaproot having the lowest rates.In these respects it should be regarded as the third quality (Sezik, 1982).
Soaproots are exported to many countries including Israel, Germany, Egypt, and Greece at the outset (Orman Genel Müdürlüğü, 1991).Between 1989 and 1996, the average annual export of soaproot roots was 140 tons.In 1997, it decreased to 93.3 tons.Today, the average export of soaproot root from Turkey is about 90 tons yearly.In 2004, $ 80000 has been earned from the soaproot root exportation for 85 tons.According to the statistics of year 2005, 92 tons of soaproot roots were exported from Turkey and $ 66000 has been gained.In 2006, despite 153 tons exportation the income was $ 61000 in an unparalleled way (Yentür et al., 2002).

DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Turkish soaproot is widely obtained from 6 species of Gypsophila (G. graminifolia, G. bicolor, G. arrostii var. nebulosa, G. eriocalyx, G. perfoliata var. anatolica and G. venusta), one species of Ankyropetalum (A. gypsophiloides) and one species of Saponaria (S. officinalis).The gene center of all genera is Turkey (Özçelik and Muca, 2010).Besides collecting plants in an uncontrollable way from nature, industrialization, urbanization, extension of agricultural fields and extreme grazing, tourism, reparation of barren fields, agricultural struggle and pollution, unconscious forestation and fires are leading factors that threaten the plants of the country, except from S. officinalis which is cultivated in many parts of the country.Many natural plants are used in medicines, exported and used in domestic markets traditionally.They are constantly being picked from nature and increasingly disappearing (Đnan, 2006).
Soaproot plants have been utilized in medicine, food, hygiene, as ornamentals in parks and gardens, in chemistry industry in order to produce saponin.It has the ability to extinguish fires, whiten gold and clean silky and delicate fabrics.It also enables cleaning the contaminated soil by removing the Boron.They can be cleaned by cultivating G. sphaerocephala and other Gypsophila species.Also, it is possible to make  (Đnan, 2006).In Turkey, the general name of Gypsophila, Ankyropetalum and Saponaria species are "Çöven, Çövenotu, and Sabunotu".But some researchers name the plants whose under-ground parts are economically valuable as "Çöven".Regarding this, soaproot is the name of a raw material and is an extract obtained from a plant (Özçelik and Muca, 2010;Korkmaz and Özçelik, 2011).Gypsophila species yielding soaproot, their locations and some properties are as follows (Koyuncu et al., 2008): (1) G. bicolor (Turkish names: Van çöveni and Tarla çöveni): This species is distributed around Van, Bitlis and Artvin provinces.Its rhizomes are hard and difficult to break down.Saponin content is 20 to 25%.This value is higher than that in other soaproot yielding plants.This is the most preferred soaproot, also known as the soaproot of the highest quality.
(2) G. arrostii var.nebulosa (Turkish names: Isparta çöveni, Beyşehir çöveni and Konya çöveni): Saponin content is 19 to 22%.This is also considered to be of good quality.This species also has a narrow distribution.
Halvah makers in Konya especially use this soaproot.
Genus Saponaria L. has 20 taxa of 18 species and 10 taxa of the genus are endemics for Turkey.S. officinalis is the most known species of the genus.It is also known as soaproot and its rhizomes are obtained from soils in autumn and dried in shade and used for similar purposes.Saponin rate of the rhizomes is about 20%.It is used as myx and urine remover, drug for cough, bronchitis, stomach ache, bone deformations, rheumatism, pimple, skin, bile disorder, liver problems and respiration system diseases (Ivanov et al., 2005).S. officinalis is produced in cemeteries, in gardens of houses and in parks and gardens of the cities for nice looking flowers and good smells in high amount.
Because of the roots and rhizomes of these plants, they are generally used and the harvest time is in March to June months.The plants do not produce seeds so; they do not enable seeds for the latter year.These plants which are constantly taken from nature due to exportation and domestic consumption and this increase their disappearance and are on the verge of extinction.This problem becomes more important especially when the plants are endemics.Except for G. paniculata which is used for cut flower and cultivated, Gypsophila species which are used for exportation and domestic consumption and some of which are endemic are taken directly from nature.This brings the danger of extinction although economically, these plants are a source of biological richness of Turkey.Most of them are endemic species having narrow distributions.Since they are not cultivated but collected directly from nature, populations of these plants in nature deteriorate, their generations diminish or become extinct, and the balance of nature is disturbed (Anonymous, 2009;Korkmaz et al., 2010).According to some trading companies, cheaper soaproot having better quality is being imported from Afghanistan and re-exported after the extraction of their juices.This soaproot juice (extract) is sold to halvah producers in Turkey.So, there is no need to collect soaproot in Turkey anymore.Soaproot has been collected for years due to the high unemployment rate in the region and the demand.
In order to preserve these species and also have regular exports, feasibility studies should be conducted and a determined quantity of a given quality should be cultivated.Soaproot should not only be collected from nature and its cultivation should be scheduled.Decrease in collection due to decreasing demand and soaproot imports from Afghanistan are good news.Soaproot imports may stop someday, but soaproot usage will continue and so we should take necessary precautions.Soaproot collection in Turkey should be stopped or at least alternation should be applied to collection areas.Cultivation of soaproot yielding plants should be studied and encouraged.Standardized extract of soaproot should be prepared.Soaproot yielding other perennial species and their saponin contents should be determined and new soaproot resources should be identified and their cultivation and marketing possibilities should be studied.Information must be given to the public to preserve biological richness.

Table 1 .
Boron contents of Gypsophila species that are grown in toxid soils by Boron.

Table 2 .
Some chemical analysis of Gypsophila species.