Biosurfactants and Their Biodegradability: A Review and Examination

Abstract

Surfactants are extensively employed in industrial, agricultural, and food, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals applications. Chemically produced surfactants cause environmental and toxicological hazards. Recently, considerable research has led to environmentally friendly procedures for the synthesis of several forms of biosurfactants from microorganisms. In comparison to chemical surfactants, biosurfactants have several advantages, such as biodegradability, low toxicity and ease of availability of raw materials. This paper offers an in-depth review of the types of surfactants, the need for bio-surfactants, their types and advantages, especially biodegradability. It also examines the biodegradability of selected four surfactants and finds that the biosurfactant is more easily biodegradable than the chemical surfactants.