What are Biosurfactants ?

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What are Biosurfactants ?..

Answer / aditi

Biosurfactants are surface-active substances synthesised by
living cells. They have the properties of reducing surface
tension, stabilising emulsions, promoting foaming and are
generally non-toxic and biodegradable. Interest in
microbial surfactants has been steadily increasing in
recent years due to their diversity, environmentally
friendly nature, possibility of large-scale production,
selectivity, performance under extreme conditions and
potential applications in environmental protection.

Biosurfactants enhance the emulsification of hydrocarbons,
have the potential to solubilise hydrocarbon contaminants
and increase their availability for microbial degradation.
The use of chemicals for the treatment of a hydrocarbon
polluted site may contaminate the environment with their by-
products, whereas biological treatment may efficiently
destroy pollutants, while being biodegradable themselves.
Hence, biosurfactant producing microorganisms may play an
important role in the accelerated bioremediation of
hydrocarbon contaminated sites [3][4][5]. These compounds
can also be used in enhanced oil recovery and may be
considered for other potential applications in
environmental protection [5][6]. Other applications include
herbicides and pesticides formulations, detergents, health
care and cosmetics, pulp and paper, coal, textiles, ceramic
processing and food industries, uranium ore-processing and
mechanical dewatering of peat [1][2][7].

Several microorganisms are known to synthesise surface-
active agents, most of them are bacteria and yeasts [8][9].
When grown on hydrocarbon substrate as the carbon source,
these microorganisms synthesise a wide range of chemicals
with surface activity, such as glycolipid, phospholipid and
others [10][11]. These chemicals are apparently synthesised
to emulsify the hydrocarbon substrate and facilitate its
transport into the cells. In some bacterial species such as
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, biosurfactants are also involved in
a group motility behavior called swarming motility.

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