Sophorolipid production by Starmerella bombicola (ATCC 22214) from virgin and waste frying oils, and the effects of activated earth treatment of the waste oils.

摘要

Frying is one of the most common processes in households, restaurants and food industries. During frying, oil undergoes degradation and hence has to be replaced time to time. This creates large amounts of waste causing disposal and environmental problems. Sophorolipids are produced by microbial bioconversion of refined vegetable oils along with glucose. The raw material cost accounts for 10-30% of the overall cost of biosurfactant production that can be reduced by using a low cost substrate like waste frying oil. In the present work, waste frying oils were used in the production of sophorolipids at the shake flask level. It gave mainly (70-80%) the acidic form of sophorolipids. It was observed that the linoleic acid was preferentially consumed over other fatty acids by the organism (Starmerella bombicola). The activated earth treatment was found to improve the yield of sophorolipids and hence the treatment can be used to convert waste frying oil as a low cost substrate into a cost effective carbon source. copyright AOCS 2011.