Valorization of agro-industrial wastes towards the production of rhamnolipids.
In this work, oil mill wastewater (OMW), a residue generated during olive oil extraction, was evaluated as an inducer of rhamnolipid production. Using a medium containing as sole ingredients corn steep liquor (10%, v/v), sugarcane molasses (10%, w/v) and OMW (25%, v/v), Pseudomonas aeruginosa #112 produced 4.5 and 5.1g of rhamnolipid per liter in flasks and reactor, respectively, with critical micelle concentrations as low as 13mg/l. Furthermore, in the medium supplemented with OMW, a higher proportion of more hydrophobic rhamnolipid congeners was observed comparing with the same medium without OMW. OMW is a hazardous waste which disposal represents a serious environmental problem; therefore, its valorization as a substrate for the production of added-value compounds such as rhamnolipids is of great interest. This is the first report of rhamnolipid production using a mixture of these three agro-industrial by-products, which can be useful for the sustainable production of rhamnolipids.
CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal. Electronic address: egudina@deb.uminho.pt.
Eduardo J
EJ
Gudiña
CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
Ana I
AI
Rodrigues
REQUIMTE/LAQV - Research Unit, Faculty of Science, Porto University, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
Victor
V
de Freitas
REQUIMTE/LAQV - Research Unit, Faculty of Science, Porto University, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
Zélia
Z
Azevedo
CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
José A
JA
Teixeira
CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
Lígia R
LR
Rodrigues
D000383:Agriculture; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D008965:Molasses / Q000032:analysis; D009821:Oils / Q000737:chemistry; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000378:metabolism; D031786:Saccharum / Q000737:chemistry; D013500:Surface Tension; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry
D006017:Glycolipids; D007220:Industrial Waste; D009821:Oils; D062065:Wastewater; C418382:rhamnolipid
Corn steep liquor; Oil mill wastewater; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Rhamnolipid; Sugarcane molasses