NIRANAJANA AND PRIYA R. IYER
Abstract
Biosurfactants are amphiphilic molecules produced by a variety of bacteria and fungi. It reduces surface and interfacial tension which makes them potential candidates for enhancing oil recovery bioremediation and de emulsification processes. Biosurfactants have several advantages over chemical surfactants because of their low toxicity and biodegradability. Use of agro industrial waste for the production of biosurfactant leads to the greater economical production also reduces the environmental pollution caused by those waste. In this study oil contaminated soil was collected from petroleum bunk (Thiruvannamalai) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was isolated from the soil and screened for the biosurfactant production. The production was compared with Pseudomonas fluorescens 2421, a MTCC strain. Different fried vegetable oils and whey were used as substrate for biosurfactant production. Among the different carbon sources olive oil, fried rice bran oil, fried sun flower oil and whey were the best source and Pseudomonas aeruginosa have higher activity then Pseudomonas fluorescens 2421.