INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF BIOSURFACTANTS: A MINI REVIEW

Biosurfactants are surface active compounds produced by living systems, which are either excreted extracellular or on the microbial surfaces. Being surface active agents they reduce the interfacial tension between different phases. These are amphiphilic compounds, similar to chemical surfactants.

Biosurfactants are attracting attention of researchers in recent years due to their diversity, selectivity and applicability. These potent molecules have vast range of applications in the different industrial sectors including pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food industry and detergents.

Currently, the methods for production of biosurfactants are cost intensive due to use of synthetic media. However, several procedures and techniques are being studied for the procurement of wide variety of wastes from agro-industrial used as a substrate like dairy wastes, vegetable oils, distillery wastes, starchy waste and animal fat. With the use of waste products for the biosurfactants production, the industrial applicability can be improved.