Biosurfactants The Ecofriendly Biomolecules of the Upcoming Era

Abstract

In this epoch of globalization and consumer satisfaction, natural resources have been studied considerably and explored for manufacturing of environment friendly products like bio surfactants with aggregate value in the world market. Since the last few decades, interest in microbial bio surfactants has increased significantly due to their perceived enormous potentials for remarkable biodegradability, biocompatibility, low toxicity, specific activity, stability and production from renewable substrates as sustainable replacements for chemical surfactants. Globally, bio surfactants’ market demand is projected to expand at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2014 to 2020. Recently, bio surfactant production is considered as one of the key technologies mainly due to their diverse functional properties and wide range of applications in diverse sectors. This chapter presents the overview of Biosurfactants along with. their significance to microorganisms and comprehensive classification. It also describes several ecofriendly sources of Bio surfactants along with different screening methods for their assessment. This chapter also discusses some methods of Bio surfactant production together with various influencing factors. Besides, it illustrates certain cost effective production techniques and elaborate promising strategies to enhance and economize the bio surfactant production. Furthermore, it highlights some patents related to bio surfactants signifying the potential scope of Bio surfactants in the upcoming era.