Biosurfactants from lactic acid bacteria: A critical review on production, extraction, structural characterization and food application

Biosurfactants are structurally diverse classes of amphiphilic molecules derived from microorganisms. They have various properties such as surface, emulsification, antibacterial, anti-adhesive, anti-biofilm, antioxidant activity that can be used in many industrial fields. The interest in these molecules compared to their synthetic coun-terparts is due to their biodegradability, low toxicity, structural diversity, and stability over a wide range of pH, temperature, and salinity. Among biosurfactants, those derived from lactic acid bacteria (LAB) attracted atten-tion nowadays due to the GRAS (Generally recognized as safe) status of these microorganisms. Biosurfactants production by LAB strains has been documented in several investigations, and they deal with the functionality and chemical nature of biosurfactants. LAB biosurfactants were mainly a complex mixture of proteinaceous compounds, glycolipids, glycoproteins, or glycolipopeptides. There are only a few studies reporting on the elucidation of the structure of LAB biosurfactants. Generally, biosurfactants' production process includes several unit operations starting from screening methods to the characterization of the biosurfactant compound. This review highlights the different techniques used in the screening of biosurfactants production by LAB, their extraction and purification processes, and their structural characterization and application in the food industry.

Automated summary

Biosurfactants derived from microorganisms, such as lactic acid bacteria, are structurally diverse amphiphilic molecules with various properties. They have advantages over synthetic surfactants, including biodegradability, low toxicity, and stability. This review focuses on the techniques used in biosurfactant production by lactic acid bacteria, as well as their extraction, purification, structural characterization, and application in the food industry.