Biosurfactant production from shrimp shell waste by Pseudomonas stutzeri

Abstract

Biosurfactant producing <em>Pseudomonas stutzeri</em> strain L1 was isolated from a marine fishing port in Mumbai. Biosurfactant production by the strain was tested using crude substrates like de-oiled cakes of soybean, sunflower and coconut; fish waste, shrimp shell waste, sugarcane and mosambi waste. The isolate exhibited emulsification activity in most of the substrates with the highest in shrimp shell waste. Nutritional and environmental parameters for maximum biosurfactant production were optimized by changing one variable at a time. Biosurfactant was recovered by acid precipitation. About 4 to 6 g/l biosurfactant could be obtained in the optimized medium which showed emulsification index of 65 % and surface tension reduction upto 40 dynes/cm.