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Nacional del Litoral, Santa

      Fe, Argentina and

      Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y

      Técnicas, Godoy Cruz, Argentina

       M. A. Vélez

      Instituto de Lactología Industrial,

      Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa

      Fe, Argentina

       C. I. Vénica

      Instituto de Lactología Industrial,

      Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa

       Kele A. C. Vespermann

      Institute of Science and Technology,

      Federal University of Jequitinhonha and

      Mucury Valleys, Diamantina – MG, Brazil

       Flavia F. Visentini

      Área de Biocoloides y

      NanotecnologíaUniversidad Nacional del

      Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina and

      Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones

      Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina

       I. V. Wolf

      Instituto de Lactología Industrial,

      Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina

       B. K. Yelikbayev

      Kazakh National Agrarian University,

       From Biosynthesis to Biological Activity toward Therapeutic Application Maria H. Ribeiro, Eva Fahr, and Sara Lopes

       Research Institute for Medicines (iMed.ULisboa), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Medicines, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidade Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal*Corresponding author: [email protected]

      1.1 Introduction

      Biosurfactants are surface active biomolecules, mostly produced by microorganisms, with a wide range of industrial applications. Biosurfactants are usually designed with a hydrophilic moiety composed of amino acids or peptides, anions, or cations; mono-, di-, or polysaccharides; and a hydrophobic moiety consisting of unsaturated, saturated, or fatty acids (Banat et al. 2010).

      Since biosurfactants are a wide group of biocompounds, there are different methods of classification. The most usual is classification according to the nature, chemical composition and microbial origin of the biosurfactants. They can be divided into five major categories: glycolipids, fatty acid/phospholipid, lipopeptide/lipoprotein, polymeric and surfactant particles (Cortés-Sánchez et al. 2013).

      The amphiphilic character triggers them to aggregate at liquid interfaces with different degrees of polarity and hydrogen bridges, giving them the ability to reduce surface- and interfacial-tension between solids, liquids and gases.

      Furthermore most biosurfactants exhibit characteristics such as tolerance to pH, temperature and ionic strength, biodegradability, low toxicity, detergency, emulsification, de-emulsification and foaming. There is considerable interest in potential applications, due to their environmental friendly character and sustainability (Geys et al. 2014; Makkar et al. 2011; Santos et al. 2016; Smyth et al. 2010). Nowadays the preservation of the Earth as a sustainable planet is one of humanities greatest concerns. In line with this concern about the environment, many industries are changing to a global viewpoint on the future of manufacturing. In fact, they have recognized the potential of living cells in the pre-treatment of raw materials, processing operations, product modifications, selective waste management, energy recycling and conservation.

      Biosurfactants are quite adaptable, their performance is versatile in a wide range of applications, in different areas, such as pharmaceutics, cosmetics, agronomy, food, beverages, metallurgy, agrochemicals, organic chemicals, petrochemicals, fertilizers, and others (Abdel-Mawgoud and Stephanopoulos 2018). The main applications in the pharmaceutical field are as anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-viral and anti-adhesive agents, immunological adjuvants, and in drug and gene delivery (Abdel-Mawgoud and Stephanopoulos 2018).

      1.1.1 Application of Biosurfactants

      The most commonly used surfactants are chemically produced from petroleum, these synthetic derived agents are generally toxic and not biodegradable. This problem motivates the search for more environmentally friendly surfactants, such as biosurfactants produced by microorganisms, which provides a wide range of applications (Santos et al. 2016; Vijayakumar and Saravanan 2015).

      Biosurfactants have several advantages over petroleum based surfactants, such as structural diversity, low toxicity, greater biodegradability, the ability to function in wide ranges of pH, temperature and salinity, as well as greater selectivity, lower protein denaturing potency and lower critical micellar concentration (CMC). The wide range of industrial applications include the field of petroleum industry as well as bioremediation, agricultural, food processing, health, chemical, and cosmetic industries (Abdel-Mawgoud and Stephanopoulos 2018; Santos et al. 2016). The following sections present an overview of the most investigated application fields for biosurfactants.

      1.1.1.1 Petroleum Industry

      The major accruing market for biosurfactants is currently the petroleum industry, which offers different applications for them (Santos et al. 2016).

      Petroleum, also known as crude oil is a natural energy source found beneath the earth´s surface. It is a resource that is in great demand, and has become the leading raw material for development and the economy in the past century. It basically consists of two to three phases (liquid/solid and gas), the industry uses several mechanisms to separate these (Almeida et al. 2016). Biosurfactants have shown promising applications in this industry, such as extraction, transportation or petrochemical manufacturing (Makkar et al. 2011).

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