SinS - Abstract

Abstract Information :

Rapid population growth has resulted in several socioeconomic developments that have led to industrialization, and subsequent use of synthetic surfactants. These chemical surfactants contribute significantly in a wide variety of industries, including petroleum, cosmetics, agriculture, medicines, food and beverage. Increased awareness of their impact on environmental and biological systems due to their low biodegradability, bioaccumulation and toxicity has resulted in the emergence of stringent laws and policies regarding their use. This compelled the need to substitute the synthetic surfactants with more efficient, innocuous, and eco-friendly bio-based surfactants. Biosurfactants constitute a structurally diverse group of surface-active compounds derived from microorganisms. Even within small collections of bacteria that express biosurfactants, sufficient chemical variation exists, suitable for a range of biotechnological applications. In this study, the potential of the microorganism B. humi for the production of biosurfactants from waste fruits and vegetables was evaluated. B. humi was isolated from Niger Delta region of Nigeria, an area of high petrochemical pollution, and grown on eight carbon sources easily accessible in the Niger Delta. A range of analytical techniques were used to determine activity. Where activity was observed, the resulting biosurfactants were extracted, and the complex heterogeneous mixture produced characterised by MALDI MS/MS and LC MS/MS. Preliminary investigations by MALDI ToF MS indicate that that for each carbon food source, B. humi produces homologous series’ of molecules. Further study by LC ESI QToF MS/MS characterised these homologous series’ as cyclic lipopeptides, differing in acyl chain length, and amino acid contribution and sequence, and being members of the iturin, fengycin and surfactin families.