title: Characterization of a soybean oil-based biosurfactant and evaluation of its ability to form microbubbles.
abstract: This paper characterizes the physico-chemical properties of the soybean oil-based polymeric surfactant, Palozengs R-004 (hereafter referred to as R-004). The surface activity of R-004 is comparable to the reported activities of biosurfactants produced by microorganisms and higher than some of the conventional synthetic surfactants. The surface tension of Milli-Q water was reduced to a minimum value of roughly 30mN/m at a concentration of about 0.07wt.%. R-004 exhibited a unique aggregation behavior: small aggregates (pre-micelles) were formed at very low concentrations. Zeta-potential measurements showed that the micelles of R-004 are negatively charged due to the presence of carboxylic groups. The ability of R-004 to form and stabilize microbubbles was evaluated and was found to be greatly affected by filtration while remaining independent of R-004 concentration over the concentration range studied (0.05-0.5wt.%). These results suggest that a very low level of surfactant can be used to produce microbubbles without affecting their properties. Our results suggest the possibility of using soybean oil-based surfactants to food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic applications.
authors.affiliation: Food Engineering Division, National Food Research Institute, 2-1-12 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan. xuqingyi@affrc.go.jp
authors.forename: Qingyi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zengshe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Mitsutoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakajima
authors.forename: Sosaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Nobutaka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Poritosh
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okadome
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shiina
mesh_terms: D005374:Filtration; D008823:Micelles; D010316:Particle Size; D013024:Soybean Oil; D013500:Surface Tension; D013501:Surface-Active Agents
chemical_list: D008823:Micelles; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D013024:Soybean Oil