Abstract

BIOSURFACTANT: AN ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY SUBSTITUTE TO SURFACTANT

Zalak N. Patel and N. Saraswathy*

Abstract

Biosurfactant are surface active compounds involved in reduction of surface tension between oil and water phase. They are generally synthesised from micro-organisms. The aim of this review article is to give a brief introduction of biosurfactant, its mechanism of working and various strains of micro-organism producing biosurfactant. There are many advantages of biosurfactant over chemical surfactant. This article describes in brief the present scenario of the oil spillage incidents all round the worlds. Bioremediation is one of the best applications which can prove to be helpful in dealing with this oil spills and make biosurfactant an environment friendly substitute to surfactant.

Keywords: Biosurfactant, Microorganism, Bioremediation, Environment.