title: Application of biosurfactant produced from peanut oil cake by Lactobacillus delbrueckii in biodegradation of crude oil.
abstract: Lactobacillus delbrueckii cultured with peanut oil cake as the carbon source yielded 5.35 mg ml(-1) of biosurfactant production. Five sets of microcosm biodegradation experiments were carried out with crude oil as follows: set 1 - bacterial cells+crude oil, set 2 - bacterial cells+crude oil+fertilizer, set 3 - bacterial cells+crude oil+biosurfactant, set 4 - bacterial cells+crude oil+biosurfactant+fertilizer, set 5 - with no bacterial cells, fertilizer and biosurfactant (control). Maximum degradation of crude oil was observed in set 4 (75%). Interestingly, when biosurfactant and bacterial cells were used (set 3), significant oil biodegradation activity occurred and the difference between this treatment and that in set 4 was 7% higher degradation level in microcosm experiments. It is evident from the results that biosurfactants alone is capable of promoting biodegradation to a large extent without added fertilizers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA. hydrobact@gmail.com
authors.forename: Rengathavasi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Thavasi
authors.forename: Singaram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jayalakshmi
authors.forename: Ibrahim M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Banat
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D048668:Lactobacillus delbrueckii / Q000378:metabolism*; D000074241:Peanut Oil; D010578:Petroleum / Q000382:microbiology*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000378:metabolism*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000074241:Peanut Oil; D010578:Petroleum; D010938:Plant Oils; D013501:Surface-Active Agents