Use of Different Agroindustrial Waste and Produced Water for Biosurfactant Production

Emilianny Rafaely Batista Magalhães¹, Francinaldo Leite Silva^1,2, Magna Angélica dos Santos Bezerra Sousa¹ and Everaldo Silvino Dos Santos¹

¹Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal/RN, Brazil. ²Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia da Paraíba (IFPB) - Campus Picuí,  Picuí/PB, Brazil.

Corresponding Author E-mail: everaldo@eq.ufrn.br

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2604

ABSTRACT: The high and increasing environmental concern about chemical surfactants triggers attention to more eco-friendly compounds, which are capable of presenting low toxicity and biodegradable nature. This study has evaluated the emulsifying potential of broths obtained from production of rhamnolipids by Pseudomonas aeruginosa AP 029/GLVIIA using different agro-industrial wastes as carbon source, and the influence of using produced water in the culture medium then acting as an inducer. There were used residues of coconut, cashew, sugar cane, carnauba, and moringa seeds. These materials were chemically characterized and used in the production of biosurfactant broths. The emulsifying activity and the surface tension were used as indirect analysis for determining the production of rhamnolipids on biosurfactant broth. For coconut and cashew residues  the pH emulsion was observed along time at different temperatures such as 4ºC, 25ºC and 40ºC The emulsification index of all broths were assessed with and without presence of produced water in the culture medium and has indicated the stability of the emulsion along time. Coconut and cashew residues showed a better stability of oil/water emulsion than the other ones, evidencing their potential surfactants. The lowest surface tension about 40 N/m and the highest contact angle (approximately 69 ^o) were observed for the coconut residue.

KEYWORDS: Agro-Industrial Waste Biosurfactant; Emulsion; Pseudomonas Aeruginosa; Rhamnolipids;

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