Biosurfactants—An Overview

Abstract

The large structural and functional variety of bio-surfactants (BS), which are produced by microorganisms, leads to the use of several methods to study these amphiphilic molecules. This review seeks to consolidate information on various surface-active product extraction techniques, microbiological screening methodologies, and analytical terminologies utilized in this sector. The potential benefits and drawbacks of various approaches for studying cell biomass or microbial culture broth for the generation of surface-reactive chemicals are also discussed. Additionally, the most popular techniques for detection, structural characterization, and purification of a variety of BS are introduced. A number of straightforward techniques are described in detail, including dialysis, ion exchange, solvent extraction, ultrafiltration, lyophilization, and thin layer chromatography (TLC). In addition to more sophisticated techniques like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), fast atom bombardment mass spectroscopy (FAB-MS), gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), and infrared (IR), proteolysis and sequencing of amino acid are also explained. In this field of study, it is quite necessary to combine several analytical techniques, and it often takes multiple iterations to purify, isolate, and characterize different surface-active substances. The numerous approaches that are essential for researching bio-surfactants are covered in this review.