Preliminary evaluation of a new low-cost substrate (amurca) in production of biosurfactant by Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from fuel-contaminated soil

Biosurfactant producing bacterium, designated strain ma-1, was isolated from gas station soil contaminated with fuel and was identified as pseudomonas aeruginosa based on morphological, physiological and biochemical tests. in this study, amurca (olive oil lees) was used as a carbon source to produce biosurfactant. the results showed that the growth of the isolate on medium containing amurca as a sole carbon source gave an emulsification index (e_24) of 37.5 % after 104 h of incubation and a cleaning activity of 30% after 112h. on the other hand, biosurfactant produced by the isolate showed antibacterial activity against pathogenic bacteria: staphylococcus aureus atcc 43300 and staphylococcus aureus. the ftir analysis showed that pseudomonas aeruginosa strain tested in this study produced glycolipids in the medium. besides, amurca medium yielded 12.4 g/l of biosurfactant in 112h.