Shikakai Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Shikakai (Senegalia rugata, long listed as Acacia concinna) is a thorny climbing shrub of the legume family, Fabaceae, native to tropical Asia from India to Myanmar, Indochina and southern China, where it scrambles through forest edges and hedgerows. Its stems are armed with short, hooked prickles and carry bipinnate leaves of many small leaflets, with globular heads of pale yellow flowers followed by thick, fleshy, wrinkled pods 8 to 15 cm long. The pods, which froth in water from their saponins, have long been a hair-washing ingredient in India. We extract the dried whole pod.