(231f) Integrations of Biosurfactant Production Into Advanced Biorefineries

Several classes of biosurfactants are produced by microorganisms.  One such surfactant is FA-Glu, which is related to the natural biosurfactant, surfactin.  FA-Glu consists of a long-chain β-hydroxy fatty acid coupled to glutamic acid. It is produced by a strain of Bacillus subtilis genetically-engineered by Modular, Inc. It has several potential applications including use as a dispersant for oil spills, where biodegradability is desirable.

Economic production and eventual application will be favored if substrate costs can be reduced and low-cost recovery methods developed.  Several such opportunities arise in advanced biorefineries. Product value would be further enhanced if such production could achieve favored “green” rating by avoiding solvents other than water and simple alcohols and effect emulsification and low toxicity could be demonstrated.  This report focus on production considerations.

Production of FA-Glu by fermentation on glucose is compared to results using lower cost substrates available in advanced biorefineries, including fiber components of soy and glycerol.  FA-Glu yields from soybean hulls (SBH) ranged from 29-51% of that from glucose on a substrate weight basis.. When SBH polysaccharides were hydrolyzed (~65%) by pre-treatment with carbohydrases, FA-Glu levels were only ~21-37% of those from glucose. The cells consumed the enzymatically-released sugars; however, very little of this was converted into FA-Glu. Addition of glucose to the enzymatic SBH hydrolysate improved FA-Glu yields, but only slightly. The low FA-Glu yields from SBH could be due to inhibitors released from the hulls by the enzymes or inhibitory substances in the enzyme preparations.

Glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production, proved to be a suitable carbon source for FA-Glu production. Cells grown on 2% w/v glycerol produced ~25% more FA-Glu than cells grown on 2% glucose. Glycerol is abundant and low in cost. Its use as a feedstock for production of microbial biosurfactants would provide a means for efficient utilization of soy by-products and improving the ag economy.

The FA-Glu was purified by collecting the foam from the aerated broth, clarification by centrifugation or filtration, and adsorption and elution from an anion exchange column to a purity of 97.9%. Final product color can be improved by liquid-liquid extraction_, butthis may compromixe “green”status.  A precipitation based alternative process is being examined as a means of eliminating solvent use.