Towards commercial production of microbial surfactants

Biosurfactants or microbial surfactants are surface-active biomolecules that are produced by a variety of microorganisms. Biosurfactants have gained importance in the fields of enhanced oil recovery, environmental bioremediation, food processing and pharmaceuticals owing to their unique properties –...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.) 2006-11, Vol.24 (11), p.509-515
Main Authors: Mukherjee, Soumen, Das, Palashpriya, Sen, Ramkrishna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacteria - genetics
Bacteria - metabolism
Bacteriology
Biodegradation
Biodegradation, Environmental
Biological and medical sciences
Bioreactors
Bioremediation
Biotechnology
Candida - genetics
Candida - metabolism
Costs
Dairy industry
Dairy Products - microbiology
Emulsion polymerization
Fermentation
Food Industry
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gamma rays
Industrial Waste
Microorganisms
Mutagenesis
Mutation
Oil recovery
Petroleum refineries
Plant Oils - metabolism
Raw materials
Starch - metabolism
Surface-Active Agents - chemistry
Surface-Active Agents - economics
Surface-Active Agents - metabolism
Surfactants
Vegetable oils
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Summary:Biosurfactants or microbial surfactants are surface-active biomolecules that are produced by a variety of microorganisms. Biosurfactants have gained importance in the fields of enhanced oil recovery, environmental bioremediation, food processing and pharmaceuticals owing to their unique properties – higher biodegradability, lower toxicity, and effectiveness at extremes of temperature, pH and salinity. However, large-scale production of these molecules has not been realized because of low yields in production processes and high recovery and purification costs. This article describes some practical approaches that have been adopted to make the biosurfactant production process economically attractive: these include the use of cheaper raw materials, optimized and efficient bioprocesses and overproducing mutant and recombinant strains for obtaining maximum productivity. The application of these strategies in biosurfactant production processes, particularly those using hyper-producing recombinant strains in the optimally controlled environment of a bioreactor, might lead towards the successful commercial production of these valuable and versatile biomolecules in near future.
ISSN:0167-7799
1879-3096
DOI:10.1016/j.tibtech.2006.09.005