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Review
. 2015 Oct 30:416:59-69.
doi: 10.1016/j.carres.2015.07.016. Epub 2015 Jul 31.

Glycolipid biosurfactants: Potential related biomedical and biotechnological applications

Mnif Inès  1 , Ghribi Dhouha  2
Affiliations
Review

Glycolipid biosurfactants: Potential related biomedical and biotechnological applications

Mnif Inès et al. Carbohydr Res. .

Abstract

Glycolipids, consisting of a carbohydrate moiety linked to fatty acids, are microbial surface active compounds produced by various microorganisms. They are characterized by highly structural diversity and have the ability to decrease the surface and interfacial tension at the surface and interface respectively. Rhamnolipids, trehalolipids, mannosylerythritol-lipids and cellobiose lipids are among the most popular glycolipids. Moreover, their ability to form pores and destabilize biological membrane permits their use in biomedicine as antibacterial, antifungal and hemolytic agents. Their antiviral and antitumor effects enable their use in pharmaceutic as therapeutic agents. Also, glycolipids can inhibit the bioadhesion of pathogenic bacteria enabling their use as anti-adhesive agents and for disruption of biofilm formation and can be used in cosmetic industry. Moreover, they have great potential application in industry as detergents, wetting agents and for flotation. Furthermore, glycolipids can act at the surface and can modulate enzyme activity permitting the enhancement or the inhibition of the activity of certain enzymes.

Keywords: Biomedicine; Biotechnology; Cosmetic; Detergent; Glycolipids; Pharmaceutics.

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