Biosurfactant Production and Application from an adaptive strain

Microbial surfactants are surface active materials produced by microorganisms when grown on water immiscible or oily substrates. They become promising alternative to chemically synthesized surfactants due to their low toxicity, higher biodegradability and hence greater environmental compatibility.This literature revels the application and experimental study on production of biosurfactant and its characterization by FTIR analysis, where strain Candida tropicalis MTCC 230 was adapted under different concentrations of hydrocarbons(petrol, kerosene oil and soya bean oil). The adaptation took place when this strain was serially adapted with low to high concentration of hydrocarbon. The best result of emulsification index was obtained when petrol and NH4Cl was used as carbon and nitrogen source respectively. Optimum pH was 6.8 and temperature was 34°C for highest cell growth.FTIR spectrum analysis showed that biosurfactant produced by Candida tropicalis MTCC 230 was Lipopeptide (surfactin) and showed highest emulsification index under pH 4 and salinity 6%. The biosurfactant is used for microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR)by making soil column, to recover the oil from the soil