Bioemulsans: microbial polymeric emulsifiers

Abstract

Bioemulsans are amphipathic proteins and/or polysaccharides that stabilize oil-in-water emulsions. Bioemulsans are produced by a wide diversity of microorganisms and have potential applications in the food, paper, paint, bioremediation, agriculture, detergent and cosmetics industries. The production of the RAG-1 emulsan has been studied in batch-fed fermentors via self-cycling fermentation and with immobilized cells using a Celite support matrix. Bioemulsans have several advantages over lower molecular weight emulsifiers presently used in industry. The last few years have seen a number of new bioemulsans described with commercial applications.