Isolation and Characterization of Biosurfactants from Bioconversion of Palm Kernel Oil by Enterobacter Orizae and Bacillus Sp
Vicky Rifatul Azkha , Rukman Hertadi

Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Mathematic, Bandung Institute of Technology
Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132, Indonesia

Abstract

Surfactant is a compound that can reduce the surface tension between two phases or the interfacial tension of a liquid such as water and oil. Surfactants are essential for the industrial production of detergents, textiles, paints, polymers, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, paper, and personal care products. For example, benzalkonium chloride and alkylbenzene linear sulfonate are employed to produce laundry detergents, personal care, and textile softeners. However, synthetic surfactants have several disadvantages for the environment because surfactants are one of the most difficult contaminants to remove and are continuously discharged into the environment through wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Therefore, we can use biosurfactants as a substitute for chemical surfactants. Biosurfactants provide several advantages over surfactants derived from chemicals, especially in biodegradability, environmental compatibility, low toxicity, high selectivity, and specific activity at extreme temperatures, pH, and salinity. These biomolecules are produced by a diverse group of microorganisms, including fungi, bacteria, and yeast. The production of biosurfactants is significantly influenced by the type of substrate, fermentation technology, and microbial strains. Biosurfactants can be categorized as good if they can reduce the surface tension from 72 mN to 22 mN. This study assesses the potential of biosurfactants and determined the type of biosurfactants obtained from the isolation of bacteria residing in the gut of Indian termites, a collection from the Department of Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. After going through the screening and biosurfactant activity tests, two types of bacteria were found that can be used as biosurfactants. After going through the screening and biosurfactant activity tests, two types of bacteria were found that can be used as biosurfactants. The two types of bacteria are Enterobacter oryzae and Bacillus sp. The biosurfactant test using the Oil Spreading Test (OST) on Enterobacter orizae produced a clear zone diameters of 3.8 cm and 2.8 cm for Bacillus sp. In previous studies, it was verified that Bacillus sp could produce surfactant-type biosurfactants, but for Enterobacter orizae, there was no research as a producer of biosurfactants. Furthermore, optimizing the levels of NaCl, Nitrogen, and Palm Kernel Oil content will be carried out to optimize the production of the resulting biosurfactants and a specific physicochemical activity test will be carried out

Keywords: Surfactant, Biosurfactant, Enterobacter oryzae, Bacillus sp, Oil Spreading Test (OST)

Topic: Biokimia Lingkungan