Preliminary study on novel sustainable production of mannosylerythritol lipids by solid-state fermentation

Abstract

The accumulation of oily waste from the edible oil industry presents both an environmental challenge and an opportunity for sustainable bioprocessing. This study explores, for the first time, the production of mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs), a class of glycolipid biosurfactants, through solid-state fermentation (SSF) using Moesziomyces bullatus and Ustilago maydis, with oil industry waste as a carbon source. The maximum yield achieved was 98.0 and 12.2 g MELs-crude per kg of waste for M. bullatus and U. maydis, respectively, corresponding to 5.9 and 0.6 g MELs per kg of waste. MELs characterization using UHPLC-ESI/MS confirmed the presence of multiple structural congeners and provided a relative quantification of each. The results demonstrate that SSF enables efficient valorization of industrial waste while supporting biosurfactant production, aligning with circular bioeconomy principles by converting agri-food byproducts into feedstocks for high-value compounds.