Chapter 6 - Ecorestoration of soil treated with biosurfactant during greenhouse and field trials

Abstract

“Pollution” is a term used for the existence, release, and introduction of toxic or hazardous substances or elements into the environment, which includes land (soil), air, and water. Soil is the most significant component in the environment as it supports the life of plants, which serve as a producer of food (autotrophs) in the first trophic level of the food chain. Hence, pollution in the soil will affect the growth and development of plants, which may have an adverse effect on the whole ecosystem. There are several methods to process the polluted soil to eliminate pollutants, improve fertility, and reuse the soil for agriculture. Ecological restoration is one such effective soil-processing approach to eliminate pollutants, which are widely used to convert polluted soil into useful land for either agriculture or commercial applications. One of the most significant biological techniques that could be utilized for the biological restoration of heavily polluted soil is through the incorporation of biosurfactant. Therefore, this chapter intends to provide ecological restoration techniques that could be utilized for the management of polluted soil using biosurfactants. Special highlights are reported on the application of biosurfactant for the bioremediation of heavy metal, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, pesticides, nuclear wastes, petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated and nitrogenized compounds, and oxidized pollutants. Their validation in greenhouse and field trials are also discussed.