The Potential of Biosurfactants in the Pharmaceutical Industry: A Review

Abstract

Surface-active substances known as "bio-based surfactants" come from a variety of sources, including plants, animals, microorganisms, marine life, synthetics, and semi-synthetics. Bio-based surfactants have a variety of uses, including in food, personal care, pharmaceutical, and industrial formulations as well as in agricultural and oil field chemicals and institutional and industrial cleaning. Nowadays, there is a significant demand for bio-based surfactants on the market as a result of the strict environmental rules that governments across the globe have placed on the use of toxins in detergents and growing environmental concerns among consumers. Due to their low toxicity and biodegradability, bio-based surfactants are acknowledged as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional petrochemical-based surfactants. Additional research going on for the creation of innovative biodegradable surfactants as a result, either by biological processes or from renewable resources (bio-catalysis or fermentation are included). Many such varieties, their properties, clinical assessment of surfactant formulations, use of bio-based surfactants, industrial state-of-the-art, and prospective markets for bio-based surfactants manufacturing are discussed in this paper.