What are biosurfactants and examples?

Biosurfactants are active compounds that are produced at the microbial cell surface or excreted, and reduce surface and interfacial tension. Microbial surfactants offer several advantages over synthetic ones, such as low toxicity and high biodegradability, and remain active at extreme pH and salinity.

What are the properties of biosurfactants?

Nature and Properties of Biosurfactants

Lower toxicity. High biodegradability by natural microorganisms. Activity in a wide acidity/salinity range. Possibility of their microbial synthesis from relatively cheap substrates, including polluting compounds.

What are biosurfactants made from?

Biosurfactants are produced by bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous fungi. The composition and yield of biosurfactants depends on bioreactor characteristics, pH of the medium, nutrient composition, agitation, oxygen availability, and temperature.

What is biosurfactants PDF?

Biosurfactants are natural products derived from bacteria, yeasts or fungi. The complex chemical structures and physical properties of biosurfactants generally result in properties equal to or exceeding many synthetic surfactants.

How do biosurfactants reduce surface tension?

The surfactant reduces the surface tension of water by adsorbing at the liquid–gas interface. They also reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water by adsorbing at the liquid–liquid interface.

What are polymeric biosurfactants?

Polymeric Biosurfactants. Emulsan, lipomanan, alasan, liposan and other polysaccharide protein complexes are the best-studied polymeric biosurfactants. Emulsan is an emulsifier for hydrocarbons in water at concentrations as low as 0.001% to 0.01% [31,32].

What are biosurfactants used for?

Biosurfactants, which are surface-active agents that have the ability to reduce both surface and interfacial tension, have been found useful for several purposes. In the food industry, they are used for stabilization, texture and taste improvement, and shelf-life elongation.

How are biosurfactants used in bioremediation?

Biosurfactants play a role in bioremediation by increasing the surface area of substrates. Biosurfactant producing microorganisms create their own micro-environment and promotes emulsification by the release of certain compounds through various mechanisms such as quorum sensing.

How are biosurfactants produced?

Bacterial cells produce a mixture of biosurfactant (BS) lipids with the help of which oil is dispersed into very fine droplets and thus the bioavailability of CO is increased. Biosurfactants are surface-active compounds produced by microorganisms.

What is Biosurfactant producing bacteria?

Microbial biosurfactants, produced by fungi, yeast, and bacteria, are surface-active compounds with emulsifying properties that have a number of known activities, including the solubilization of microbial biofilms.

What are the advantages of biosurfactants over chemical surfactants?

Biosurfactants have several advantages over chemical surfactants, including lower toxicity, higher biodegradability, effectiveness at extreme temperatures or pH values, biocompatibility, and digestibility.

How is bioremediation used in oil spills?

(A) Bioremediation is the process through which native oil-degrading microorganisms consume or break down various components of oil spilled in marine environments. (B) Bioaugmentation for oil spills is a method for enhancing bioremediation of oil spills through the addition of cultured oil-degrading microbes.

Why do microbes produce Biosurfactant?

Biosurfactants are surface-active biomolecules produced by microbes (bacteria, fungi, and yeast) and have several advantages over the chemical surfactants, such as lower toxicity, higher biodegradability, better environmental compatibility, higher foaming, high selectivity, and specific activity under extreme …

What is drop collapse test?

Drop Collapse Assay

This assay relies on the destabilization of liquid droplets by surfactants. Therefore, drops of a cell suspension or of culture supernatant are placed on an oil coated, solid surface.

Are surfactants?

What Are Surfactants? Surfactants are a category of chemical compounds that are used in lowering the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between different compounds such as two liquids or between a gas and a liquid or it can also be between a liquid and a solid.

What is surfactant chemistry?

Surfactants are compounds that decrease the surface tension (or interfacial tension) between two liquids, between a gas and a liquid, or between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants may act as detergents, wetting agents, emulsifiers, foaming agents, or dispersants.

What is emulsification index?

The emulsification index (E24) is given as percentage of height of emulsified layer (mm) divided by total height of the liquid column (mm). The E24 of the formed emulsions were monitored for 30 days. Biosurfactant was dissolved at the CMC value in 4 mL distilled water and the immiscible compounds (1 mL) were added.

What is emulsification assay?

Emulsification assay is an indirect method used to screen biosurfactant production.