Study on Optimization, Degreasing and Destaining Potentials of Glycophospholipid Biosurfactant Produced by <i>Bacillus Anthracis</i> S62A

Abstract

Oil-polluted soil is one of the major sources of biosurfactant producing bacteria. This study was to study the optimization, degreasing and de-staining potentials of glycophospholipid biosurfactant produced by B. anthracis strain S62A isolated from spent engine oil-polluted soil. Five (5) bacterial isolates associated with spent engine oil – polluted soil was primarily screened for biosurfactant production using emulsification index test, oil displacement test, and surface tension test. The bacterial isolate with the highest screening test results was selected, characterized and examined for its biosurfactant production optimization, degreasing and de-staining potential on different oil-stained fabric materials. The results showed that the parameters required for the maximum biosurfactant yield were 20 g of slaughter house waste, 10 g of rice bran, 1% of sodium chloride, 9.0 pH, 4 °C temperature, 10% of the test bacterial inoculum and 5 days incubation period. The biochemical profile revealed that the extracted biosurfactant was identified as glycophospholipid. The maximum cleaning and degreasing efficiency of the biosurfactant obtained from B. anthracis strain S62A was observed to possess 78, 72 and 64 % oil removal efficiency from stained polyester, cotton and chiffon fabric materials, respectively at 10 mg/mL critical micelles concentration (CMC). Statistically, significant differences (P < 0.05) were detected among the means of all surfactant concentration treatments in comparison to their controls using two-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett comparison test. Therefore, this study suggests that the glycophospholipid biosurfactant from B. anthracis strain S62A could be exploited in laundry industries for the formulation of detergents as well as in textile dye biotreatment.