Biosurfactants: moving towards industrial application

• Published in: Trends in biotechnology (Regular ed.) Vol. 10; no. 6; pp. 208 - 217
• Main Author: Fiechter, Armin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 1992; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Carbohydrate Sequence; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glycolipids - biosynthesis; Glycolipids - chemistry; Health. Pharmaceutical industry; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Lipoproteins - biosynthesis; Lipoproteins - chemistry; Molecular Sequence Data; Other active biomolecules; Production of active biomolecules; Surface-Active Agents - chemistry; Bioreactor; Gene; Industrial application; Production; Biosynthesis; Review; Economic aspect; Microorganism; Surfactant
• ISSN: 0167-7799; 1879-3096
• DOI: 10.1016/0167-7799(92)90215-H

Chemically synthesized surface-active compounds are widely used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, petroleum and food industries. However, with the advantages of biodegradability, and production on renewable-resource substrates, biosurfactants may eventually replace their chemically synthesized counterparts. So far, the use of biosurfactants has been limited to a few specialized applications because biosurfactants have been economically uncompetitive. There is a need to gain a greater understanding of the physiology, genetics and biochemistry of biosurfactant-producing strains, and to improve process technology to reduce production costs.