Fermentative Production of Mannosylerythritol Lipids using Sweetwater as Waste Substrate by Pseudozyma antarctica (MTCC 2706)

Abstract Mannosylerythritol lipids are glycolipid biosurfactants with promising industrial applications. However, their commercial production is hindered due to its high production cost. The current study investigates the use of sweetwater, a by-product of the fat-splitting industry in combination with soybean oil for the production of mannosylerythritol lipids using Pseudozyma antarctica (MTCC 2706). The optimum sweetwater and soybean oil concentration of 22% and 7% (w/v) yielded 7.52 g L –1 and 21.5 g L –1 mannosylerythritol lipids at shake flask and fermenter level respectively. The structure and functional groups of mannosylerythritol lipids were confirmed by fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and 1 H- and 13 C-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis. Surfactant properties, such as surface tension, critical micelle concentration, foaming and emulsification of mannosylerythritol lipids were also explored.