Applied Sciences (Mar 2020)

Remediation of Aviation Kerosene-Contaminated Soil by Sophorolipids from <i>Candida bombicola</i> CB 2107

  • Torsha Goswami,
  • Filip M. G. Tack,
  • Lenka McGachy,
  • Marek Šír

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/app10061981
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 6
p. 1981

Abstract

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Yeast-derived biosurfactants may substitute or complement chemical surfactants as green reagents to extract petroleum hydrocarbons from contaminated soil. The effectiveness of contaminant clean-up by sophorolipids was tested on kerosene-contaminated soil with reference to traditional synthetic surfactants. The sophorolipids produced by the yeast Candida bombicola CB 2107, cultivated with the carbon sources 10 g/L glucose and 10 g/L rapeseed oil, were most effective in contaminant removal. This biosurfactant revealed a critical micelle concentration of 108 mg/L which was close to that of Triton X-100 (103 mg/L), the synthetic surfactant considered as reference. It outperformed Triton X-100 in reducing kerosene concentrations (C10−C40) in contaminated soils. In a soil initially containing 1080 mg/kg of C10−C40, the concentration was reduced to 350 mg/kg using the biosurfactant, and to 670 mg/kg using Triton-X. In the soil with initial concentration of 472 mg/kg, concentrations were reduced to 285 and 300 mg/kg for biosurfactant and Triton X-100, respectively. Sophorolipids have the potential to replace synthetic surfactants. Properties and performance of the biosurfactants, however, strongly differ depending on the yeast and the growing conditions during production.

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