Use of hydrocarbons sludge as a substrate for the production of biosurfactants by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the capacity of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain to metabolize hydrocarbons sludge in the production of biosurfactants to fight against environmental threats. The performance of the treatment consisted in monitoring the inductive metabolism of the strain during 48 h at a temperature of 37 degrees C which constitutes an opportunity of treatment of various hydrocarbons contained in crude oil and spilled in the ecosystem to prevent pollution and damage. The results showed that a treatment rate of 96,8% and an emulsification index of 71.8% were obtained corresponding to a phosphate buffer concentration of 30 mmol/L. The main role of the biosurfactants produced was to emulsify the medium and to absorb the oils contained in the hydrocarbons sludge. This allowed to stabilize hydrocarbon oils and favored the inductive metabolism of P. aeruginosa. Furthermore, physicochemical and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis showed that the produced biosurfactants were of rhamnolipid type. They showed promising surfactant properties, such as a strong reduction in the surface tension of water from 72 to 40.52 mN/m, a high reactivity in the culture medium at pH 7, a high osmotolerance up to 150 g/L of salt, and a critical micellar concentration of 21 mg/L.