Purification and Characterization of Biosurfactant from Tsukamurella sp. 26A

  • Choi, Kyung-Suk (Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Science, Pusan National University) ;
  • Kim, Soon-Han (Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Science, Pusan National University) ;
  • Lee, Tae-Ho (Department of Microbiology, College of Natural Science, Pusan National University)
  • Published : 1999.02.01

Abstract

A biosurfactant produced by Tsukamurella sp. 26A was purified by procedures including acid precipitation, ethylacetate extraction, and adsorption chromatography. The purified biosurfactant reduced the surface tension of water from 72 mN/m to 30 mN/m at a concentration of 250 mg/l, whereas the minimum interfacial tension against n-hexadecane was lowered to 1.5 mN/m at a concentration of 40 mg/i. The compound stabilized oil-in-water emulsions with a variety of commercial oils and had strong emulsification and stabilization activities when compared to those of commercial emulsifiers and stabilizers. Surface tension was stable over a broad range of pH (2-12) and temperature ($100^{\circ}C$, 3h). The biosurfactant was identified as glycolipid having a hydrophilic moiety of trehalose.

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