Preliminary characterization of biosurfactants produced by microorganisms isolated from refinery wastewaters

Abstract

Some bacterial strains isolated from refinery wastewaters were identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa RWI, Pseudomonas putida RWII, Pseudomonas fluorescens RWIII and Burkholderia cepacia RWIV, and the biosurfactants produced by these strains were coded as BS-I, BS-II, BS-III and BS-IV, respectively. The bacterial strains were characterized by the following biochemical methods: Gram stain, oxidase activity, indol, lactose and growth at 42 degrees C. Biosurfactant production was evaluated by: emulsification activity, surface tension measurement and critical micelle concentration. Chemical characterization of the biosurfactants was done by: FTIR and analysis of carbohydrate, protein and lipid content. The biosurfactants showed good emulsification activity against different hydrocarbon sources. The initial surface tension of culture broth was determined as 67.3 mN/m, and production of BS-I, BS-II, BS-III and BS-IV lowered this value to 35.9, 49.2, 51.6 and 45.7 mN/m, respectively. The critical micelle concentration of the biosurfactants was found to be in the range 10-50 mg/L. From the results of this study it was observed that the refinery wastewaters are a suitable source for isolation of biosurfactant-producing bacteria, but are not a substrate for biosurfactant production.