Production of surface active compounds by biocatalyst technology

Abstract

In the current scenario, there is immense concern regarding the environmental issues. Eco-friendly surfactants are becoming a preferred choice for specific applications in spite of their possibly inferior performance or more expensive nature than conventional ones. This chapter deals with the use of enzymes in non-aqueous media for the synthesis of surfactants such as monoglycerides, sugar fatty acid esters, fatty acid amides, alkyl glycosides and lysophospholipids. The conventional methods of synthesizing these classes of surfactants, the variety of enzymes involved, process parameters, yields, advantages and disadvantages have been discussed in detail. © 2010 Landes Bioscience and Springer Science+Business Media.