ABSTRACT
Petroleum is one of the globally used energy sources by mankind. The uncontrolled mining and petroleum usage have led to rampant environmental pollution. The petroleum and its hydrocarbons are extremely toxic to the ecosystem as well as human health. Hence, there is a prerequisite to develop an alternative economic “Green Technology” to the current physicochemical processes in order to reduce the toxic impacts on global living systems. Bioremediation is a wise and widespread approach to tackle pollutants of the environment. However, practically it appears to be challenging, when the contaminants of concern are hydrocarbons which are complex and their insolubility in the aqueous phase is evident. Remediation of environmental pollutants has been accomplished through assimilation, mineralization and biotransformation processes. Therefore, approaches based on the bioremediation process are certainly effective and trustworthy. Biosurfactants, being of biological origin are less toxic and are undeniably advantageous over chemical means for the purpose of remediation. From the huge world of biosurfactants; rhamnolipids appear to be the major attraction of the global market. Rhamnolipids are anionic type surface-active glycolipids consisting of rhamnose and β-hydroxyalkanoic acid units produced by different species of Pseudomonas. Rhamnolipids are used in agriculture mainly as biocontrol agents and in bioremediation processes. Although there is high demand for rhamnolipids, several challenges are associated with its applicability in fields. Among them, the two major challenges are the requirements of huge monetary inputs for the production of biosurfactants and the pathogenic nature of biosurfactant producing organisms. Therefore, lots of efforts are being made to design safe and cost-effective methodologies to produce rhamnolipids. This chapter summarizes the applications and challenges involved in rhamnolipid assisted hydrocarbon soil bioremediation.
