ABSTRACT
Demand for surfactant chemicals for household cleaning products, personal care sectors, agriculture, food, pharmaceutical, and environmental industries is steadily increasing. According to a 2013 Acmite Market Intelligence report [1], the world markets of surfactants reached US$26.8 billion in 2012, experiencing a 10% increase since 2010. These gures are predicted to increase by 3.8% annually in the coming years and, by 2016, the market is expected to reach US$31.1 billion. However, due to the potential hazard of synthetic surfactants toward human health and increasing consumer demand for chemical products that are both effective and environmentally compatible, it is natural to turn to the microbial world to fulll this demand by means of biosurfactant utilization. Microbial-derived surfactants are produced on living surfaces mostly microbial cell surfaces, or excreted extracellularly, and contain hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties capable of reducing surface tension and interfacial tension between individual molecules at the surface and interface. Such properties exhibit excellent detergency, emulsifying, foaming, and dispersing traits, which can be applied in various industries. They are also commercially promising alternatives to chemically synthesized surfactants due to their inherent biodegradability, lower toxicity, better foaming properties, and greater stability toward temperature and pH [2].
