2014 Volume 14 Issue 11 Pages 465-472
Biosurfactants (BS) are surface-active compounds abundantly produced by microorganisms from a variety of renewable resources. They have been receiving great attention due to their unique properties, including higher biodegradability, lower toxicity, and versatile biological functions, compared to typical synthetic surfactants. In this review, we focus on three kinds of promising glycolipid BS such as mannosylerythritol lipid (MEL), sophorose lipid (SL), and cellobiose lipid (CL).
The structural variety of MELs was considerably expanded, and the excellent properties lead to their cosmetic application, i.e., moisturization of dry skin and repair of damaged hair. Recently, SL production from non-edible vegetable oils including jatropha and mahua oils was succeeded, and the yield was reached 122 gL–1 for jatropha oil after 9 days. CL found its new application as a low molecular weight gelator (LMWG), and it can gelates 6 out of 26 solvent by forming 3D supramolecular structures with an entangled fibrous network. These features of glycolipid BS would broaden its applications in new advanced technologies. The current status of research and development on glycolipid BS, especially their production and potential applications, is discussed.
