What is Biosurfactant?

About Biosurfactant: 

• Biosurfactants are surface-active molecules produced by microorganisms, either on the cell surface or secreted extracellularly.
• They form a thin film on the surface of microorganisms and help in their detachment or attachment to other cell surfaces.
• They are involved in regulating the motility of bacteria and quorum sensing.
• Features:
  • Microbial biosurfactants obtained from various microbial sources exhibit high emulsification, solubilization, foaming, adsorption, and other physical characteristics.
  • They are very stable in a wide range of pH, temperature, and salinity, making them suitable for food applications.
  • These are eco-friendly biomolecules and do not impart toxic effects; therefore, they can be considered safe for human consumption.
• Applications
  • These are used in the food industry like bakeries and salad dressings.
  • These can be used for heavy metal removal from vegetables to boost immunity in fish, providing a protective effect against the pathogen.
  • Also, it can be employed in food products as a natural antioxidant to prevent early spoilage. 

What are surfactants?

• These are molecules that slither across surfaces of oil and water, water and oil, or air and water to form an emulsion.
• Surfactants are very useful in the food industry as lubricants and foamers to emulsify fats in batters, improve shelf life, as dispersing agents, and retain moisture.
• Issues: However, the accelerated usage of synthetic food additives and emulsifiers in dietary goods has led to imbalances in the microbiome of the body, gut-related disorders and affect the intestinal barrier permeability leading to declination of beneficial microbiota.

Q1: What is Emulsification?

Emulsification is the process of dispersing two or more immiscible liquids together to form a semistable mixture.

Source: Safe microbial substitute can replace synthetic surfactants in the food industry