Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Aug 26:12:1398210.
doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1398210. eCollection 2024.

Microbially derived surfactants: an ecofriendly, innovative, and effective approach for managing environmental contaminants

Affiliations
Review

Microbially derived surfactants: an ecofriendly, innovative, and effective approach for managing environmental contaminants

Navdeep Singh et al. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. .

Abstract

The natural environment is often contaminated with hydrophobic pollutants such as long-chain hydrocarbons, petrochemicals, oil spills, pesticides, and heavy metals. Hydrophobic pollutants with a toxic nature, slow degradation rates, and low solubility pose serious threats to the environment and human health. Decontamination based on conventional chemical surfactants has been found to be toxic, thereby limiting its application in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. In contrast, biosurfactants synthesized by various microbial species have been considered superior to chemical counterparts due to their non-toxic and economical nature. Some biosurfactants can withstand a wide range of fluctuations in temperature and pH. Recently, biosurfactants have emerged as innovative biomolecules not only for solubilization but also for the biodegradation of environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, and oil spills. Biosurfactants have been well documented to function as emulsifiers, dispersion stabilizers, and wetting agents. The amphiphilic nature of biosurfactants has the potential to enhance the solubility of hydrophobic pollutants such as petroleum hydrocarbons and oil spills by reducing interfacial surface tension after distribution in two immiscible surfaces. However, the remediation of contaminants using biosurfactants is affected considerably by temperature, pH, media composition, stirring rate, and microorganisms selected for biosurfactant production. The present review has briefly discussed the current advancements in microbially synthesized biosurfactants, factors affecting production, and their application in the remediation of environmental contaminants of a hydrophobic nature. In addition, the latest aspect of the circular bioeconomy is discussed in terms of generating biosurfactants from waste and the global economic aspects of biosurfactant production.

Keywords: biosurfactants; circular economy; emulsifiers; environmental pollutants; hydrophobic chemicals; interfacial surface tension.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Representation of biosurfactants with their actions for critical micelle concentration and formation of biosurfactant monomers.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Biosurfactants and their functional roles.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Classification of biosurfactants.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Factors affecting biosurfactant production.

Similar articles

References

    1. Abooali D., Soleimani R. (2023). Structure-based modeling of critical micelle concentration (CMC) of anionic surfactants in brine using intelligent methods. Sci. Rep. 13, 13361. 10.1038/s41598-023-40466-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agarwal P., Sharma D. K. (2009). Studies on the production of biosurfactant for the microbial enhanced oil recovery by using bacteriaisolated from oil contaminated wet soil. Pet. Sci. Technol. 27, 1880–1893. 10.1080/10916460802686640 - DOI
    1. Al-Bahry S. N., Al-Wahaibi Y. M., Elshafie A. E., Al-Bemani A. S., Joshi S. J., Al-Makhmari H. S., et al. (2013). Biosurfactantproduction by Bacillus subtilis B20 using date molasses and its possible application in enhanced oil recovery. Int. Biodegr. 81, 141–146. 10.1016/j.ibiod.2012.01.006 - DOI
    1. Al-Marri S., Eldos H. I., Ashfaq M. Y., Saeed S., Skariah S., Varghese L., et al. (2023). Isolation, identification, and screening of biosurfactant-producing and hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria from oil and gas industrial waste. Biotechnol. Rep. 39, e00804. 10.1016/j.btre.2023.e00804 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Araújo H. W., Andrade R. F., Montero-Rodríguez D., Rubio-Ribeaux D., Alves da Silva C. A., Campos-Takaki G. M. (2019). Sustainable biosurfactant produced by Serratia marcescens UCP 1549 and its suitability for agricultural and marine bioremediation applications. Microb. Cell Factories. 18, 2–13. 10.1186/s12934-018-1046-0 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. We are grateful for the support provided by the Scientific Startup Foundation for Doctors of Yulin Normal University (grant numbers G2019ZK32 and G2020ZK13).

LinkOut - more resources