Although I don't know what's wrong about the good old SDS, here's a collection (scroll down a little):

https://thethingswellmake.com/beginners-guide-natural-surfactants/

Companies peddling "natural" surfactants are deceiving the consumer. If you read the ingredients, you'll usually see phrases such as "naturally derived" or "plant source derived". Well, EVERYTHING is naturally derived. Oil (fossil) is natural.

Consider this statement:

"Sulfosuccinate is produced by reacting coconut-oil derived ethoxylated lauryl alcohol with sulfosuccinic acid which is made from maleic anhydride followed by addition of sodium bisulfite."

(https://www.makingcosmetics.com/Sulfosuccinate_p_279.html)

"Coconut-oil derived" - must be healthy and safe, right. Well, what's the industrial chemical process to synthesize the alcohol? Where does sodium bisulfite come from? Not from a tree.

Maleic anhydride? Made from benzene (highly carcinogenic and comes from oil).

There are very few naturally occurring surfactants (i.e., not derived) that come anywhere close to being useful for cleaning.

If someone is selling a "natural" surfactant and it is inexpensive, most likely it uses industrial ingredients.

Dear Prof. John Francis Miller,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. You clarified this story as much as possible. You are absolutely right.

Best Regards

Foroogh

Dear Jürgen Weippert,

Thank you for your suggestion about SDS. I can not open the link you sent. Could you please send the name of the article? Maybe I can find it elsewhere.

Regards

Foroogh

Proteins can be good emulsifiers. For example, egg albumin is used to make mayonnaise.

This maybe useful:

"Natural emulsifying agents used in foods include agar, albumin (egg whites), alginates, casein, egg yolk, gums, Irish moss, and lecithin. Here is a procedure to test albumin, which is a protein found in egg whites, as an emulsifier. "

(https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/FoodSci_p021/cooking-food-science/emulsifier-mixing-oil-and-water)

Hello Foroogh Khodadadi ,

the article I posted contained precisely the surfactants that John Francis Miller picked apart nicely in his first posting, which is probably the reason why he chose those.

As I indicated in my first post, I don't see what's wrong about SDS (it is pretty well-degradable). What is your intended application, or better, why do you want a "natural surfactant"?

Dear Prof. John Francis Miller,

Thank you so much for your complete answer! I greatly appreciate it.

Regards