Soap consists of

The correct answer is Option (1) → Alkali salts of higher fatty acids

Soap is chemically defined as the alkali metal salt (usually sodium or potassium) of higher fatty acids (long-chain carboxylic acids, typically containing 12–18 carbon atoms, derived from fats or oils).

The manufacturing process (saponification) involves reacting fats/oils (triglycerides) with a strong alkali like sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or potassium hydroxide (KOH):

Fat/Oil + NaOH → Soap (sodium salt of fatty acid) + Glycerol

This produces the cleansing property due to the amphiphilic nature of the molecule (hydrophilic carboxylate head and hydrophobic hydrocarbon tail).