Substrates of Opposite Polarities and Downstream Processing for Efficient Production of the Biosurfactant Mannosylerythritol Lipids from Moesziomyces spp

Glycolipids biosurfactants production using low-cost substrates for environmental remediation: progress, challenges, and future prospects

The production of renewable materials from alternative sources is becoming increasingly important to reduce the detrimental environmental effects of their non-renewable counterparts and natural resources, while making them more economical and sustainable. Chemical surfactants, which are highly toxic and non-biodegradable, are used in a wide range of industrial and environmental applications harming humans, animals, plants, and other entities. Chemical surfactants can be substituted with biosurfactants (BS), which are produced by microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, and yeast. They have excellent emulsifying, foaming, and dispersing properties, as well as excellent biodegradability, lower toxicity, and the ability to remain stable under severe conditions, making them useful for a variety of industrial and environmental applications. Despite these advantages, BS derived from conventional resources and precursors (such as edible oils and carbohydrates) are expensive, limiting large-scale production of BS. In addition, the use of unconventional substrates such as agro-industrial wastes lowers the BS productivity and drives up production costs. However, overcoming the barriers to commercial-scale production is critical to the widespread adoption of these products. Overcoming these challenges would not only promote the use of environmentally friendly surfactants but also contribute to sustainable waste management and reduce dependence on non-renewable resources. This study explores the efficient use of wastes and other low-cost substrates to produce glycolipids BS, identifies efficient substrates for commercial production, and recommends strategies to improve productivity and use BS in environmental remediation.

Promising Application, Efficient Production, and Genetic Basis of Mannosylerythritol Lipids

Mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs) are a class of glycolipids that have been receiving increasing attention in recent years due to their diverse biological activities. MELs are produced by certain fungi and display a range of bioactivities, making them attractive candidates for various applications in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology. Despite their remarkable qualities, industrial-scale production of MELs remains a challenge for fungal strains. Excellent fungal strains and fermentation processes are essential for the efficient production of MELs, so efforts have been made to improve the fermentation yield by screening high-yielding strains, optimizing fermentation conditions, and improving product purification processes. The availability of the genome sequence is pivotal for elucidating the genetic basis of fungal MEL biosynthesis. This review aims to shed light on the applications of MELs and provide insights into the genetic basis for efficient MEL production. Additionally, this review offers new perspectives on optimizing MEL production, contributing to the advancement of sustainable biosurfactant technologies.

A review on the upstream production and downstream purification of mannosylerythritol lipids

Biosurfactants are natural compounds with remarkable surface-active properties that may offer an eco-friendly alternative to conventional surfactants. Among them, mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs) stand out as an intriguing example of a glycolipid biosurfactant. MELs have been used in a variety of sectors for various applications, and are currently commercially produced. Industrially, they are used in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and agricultural industries, based on their ability to reduce surface tension and enhance emulsification. However, despite their utility, their production is comparatively limited industrially. From a bioprocessing standpoint, two areas of interest to improve the production process are upstream production and downstream (separation and purification) product recovery. The former has seen a significant amount of research, with researchers investigating several production factors: the microbial species or strain employed, the producing media composition, and the production strategy implemented. Improvement and optimization of these are key to scale-up the production of MELs. On the other hand, the latter has seen comparatively limited work presented in the literature. For the most part traditional separation techniques have been employed. This systematic review presents the production and purification methodologies used by researchers by comprehensively analyzing the current state-of-the-art with regards the production, separation, and purification of MELs. By doing so, the review presents different possible approaches, and highlights some potential areas for future work by identifying opportunities for the commercialization of MELs.