Abstract
Surfactants are amphiphilic compounds having hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties in their structure. They can be of synthetic or of microbial origin, obtained respectively from chemical synthesis or from microorganisms’ activity. A new generation of ecofriendly surfactant molecules or biobased surfactants is increasingly growing, attributed to their versatility of applications. Surfactants can be used as drug delivery systems for a range of molecules given their capacity to create micelles which can promote the encapsulation of bioactives of pharmaceutical interest; besides, these assemblies can also show antimicrobial properties. The advantages of biosurfactants include their high biodegradability profile, low risk of toxicity, production from renewable sources, functionality under extreme pH and temperature conditions, and long-term physicochemical stability. The application potential of these types of polymers is related to their properties enabling them to be processed by emulsification, separation, solubilization, surface (interfacial) tension, and adsorption for the production of a range of drug delivery systems. Biosurfactants have been employed as a drug delivery system to improve the bioavailability of a good number of drugs that exhibit low aqueous solubility. The great potential of these molecules is related to their auto assembly and emulsification capacity. Biosurfactants produced from bacteria are of particular interest due to their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties with therapeutic and biomedical potential. In this review, we discuss recent advances and perspectives of biosurfactants with antimicrobial properties and how they can be used as structures to develop semisolid hydrogels for drug delivery, in environmental bioremediation, in biotechnology for the reduction of production costs and also their ecotoxicological impact as pesticide alternative.
Highlights
Surfactants are an important class of chemical compounds widely used in various sectors of modern industry [1,2,3]
Biosurfactants can be obtained from microorganisms’ activity, through enzyme-substrate reactions and fermentation processes, as well as being synthesized extracellularly using biocatalyst enzymes. Both the hydrophobic portion and the hydrophilic portion of the biosurfactants can be synthesized in two independent pathways: both the portions can be substrate-dependent, or one can be synthesized de novo while the other is induced by the substrate [23]
Amphiphiles self-assembled in aqueous solutions can solubilize hydrophobic comAmphiphiles self-assembled in aqueous solutions can solubilize hydrophobic compounds, which preferentially reside in the hydrophobic domains of the pounds, which preferentially reside in the hydrophobic domains of the amphiphilic nanostructure
Summary
Surfactants are an important class of chemical compounds widely used in various sectors of modern industry [1,2,3]. The academic and industrial interest in biosurfactants has increased in recent years due to their diversity, environmentally friendly character, and the possibility of production by fermentation Additional advantages include their biodegradability, low toxicity, production from renewable sources, functionality under extreme pH and temperature conditions, and stability. Biosurfactants with lower molecular weight (e.g., glycolipids and low-molecularweight lipopeptides (LPs) and phospholipids) show industrial potential because of their capacity in reducing surface and interfacial tension. The antibacterial properties of glycolipids and rhamnolipids are attributed to their permeabilization effect that compromises the integrity of the bacterial plasma membrane This affects cell surface charge and alters hydrophobicity in a manner similar to the action of synthetic cationic surfactants. This review summarizes the recent advances and perspectives of biosurfactants, their production from different sources, their physicochemical characterization, and their application as antimicrobial agents, in environmental bioremediation, in pharmaceutics as drug delivery systems, in biotechnology, in the reduction of production costs, and their ecotoxicological impact
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