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Biosurfactant production by Bacillus coagulans

  • Published:
Journal of Surfactants and Detergents

Abstract

A new biosurfactant producer, Bacillus coagulans, was isolated from soil. Its 24-h-old culture broth had a low surface tension (27–29 mN/m). Optimization of cell growth of this bacterium led to maximal biosurfactant production with glucose or starch as the organic carbon source, a pH in the range 4.0–7.5, and incubation temperatures from 20 to 45°C. The crude biosurfactants obtained after neutralization and lyophilization of the acid precipitate yielded a minimal aqueous solution surface tension value of 29 mN/m and an interfacial tension value of 4.5 mN/m against hexadecane. The critical micelle concentration of the crude biosurfactants was 17 mg/L. Addition of NaCl to the aqueous solution of the crude product caused lowering of surface tension at both the aqueous solution-air and aqueous solution-n-hexadecane interfaces. These results indicate that the biosurfactants obtained have potential environmental and industrial applications and may have uses in microbially enhanced oil recovery.

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Abbreviations

CMC:

critical micelle concentration

HPLC:

high-performance liquid chromatography

OD600:

optical density at 600 nm

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Author notes

  1. Ewa Huszcza

    Present address: Department of Chemistry, Agricultural University, 50-375, Norwida 25, Wrocław, Poland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Wrocław University of Technology, 50-370, Wrocław, Poland

    Ewa Huszcza

  2. Institute of Organic and Polymer Technology, Wrocław University of Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspiańskiego 27, 50-370, Wrocław, Poland

    Bogdan Burczyk

Authors
  1. Ewa Huszcza
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  2. Bogdan Burczyk
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Correspondence to Bogdan Burczyk.

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Huszcza, E., Burczyk, B. Biosurfactant production by Bacillus coagulans . J Surfact Deterg 6, 61–64 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-003-0249-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-003-0249-2

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