Classification and Production of Microbial Surfactants

Abstract

Microbial surfactants (biosurfactants) have been industrially produced and applied in many fields worldwide. There is an annual increase in biosurfactant production which reflects the world attitude toward the safe and eco-friendly products. Surfactants of biological origin have several advantages over the chemically synthesized counterparts, which include biodegradability, specificity, and less toxicity. Biosurfactants are composed of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties in which the hydrophobic moiety is a lipid structure, in most cases. However, sugars, amino acids, proteins, and phosphates represent the hydrophilic moiety. Many microorganisms were reported to produce surfactants. The output and type of the produced microbial surfactant are species-specific and depend on nutritional and environmental factors. Biosurfactants can be classified based on physical or chemical properties. The chemical structure of biosurfactants represents the main criteria for their classification. Through the current chapter, we aim to highlight the classes of microbial surfactants along with the factors affecting their production and methods of cultivation in lab and industrial scale.