Solution towards low yield biosurfactant production from bacteria, a novel approach using microalgae-bacteria consortium.

Background: Surfactants are an important chemical in the industry due to their unique properties to reduce surface tension between fluids. To date, raw materials involved for the synthesis of surfactants are mostly derived from petroleum-based compounds. Although the current petroleum reserve can sustain annual consumption, petroleum is a non-renewable resource thus a sustainable alternative is needed. Current research has been focusing on exploring alternative biological feedstock for biosurfactants derived from microbes. However, these biosurfactants are usually from bacteria having either low yield or from pathogenic bacteria. This research aims to assess the potential of Bacillus subtilis-Desmodesmus perforatus consortium to produce biosurfactants at a higher efficiency compared to pure bacteria.

Results: Results showed that the co-cultivation of bacteria with microalgae increases the yield of biosurfactants from 0.0207 ± 0.0124 g/100mL to 0.4584 ± 0.0205 g/100mL. Subsequent parameters including microalgae species, volume of microalgae or bacteria inoculated, volume and concentration of culture medium were optimized to increase the final yield of biosurfactant to achieve a yield of 0.7109 ± 0.0215 g/100 mL, far higher than the yield of biosurfactants produced by pure bacteria culture, proving that microalgae-bacteria consortium provides a solution to increase the yield of biosurfactants from non-pathogenic bacteria.

Conclusion: This study has proven the potential of using a microalgae-bacteria consortium to produce glycolipids at an industrial feasible rate, which can help in reducing the reliance of the commercial petroleum-based surfactants.