In the era of global industrialisation, the exploration of natural resources has served as a source of experimentation for science and advanced technologies, giving rise to the manufacturing of products with high aggregate value in the world market, such as biosurfactants. Biosurfactants are amphiphilic microbial molecules with hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties that partition at liquid/liquid, liquid/gas or liquid/solid interfaces. Such characteristics allow these biomolecules to play a key role in emulsification, foam formation, detergency and dispersal, which are desirable qualities in different industries. Biosurfactant production is considered one of the key technologies for development in the 21st century. Besides exerting a strong positive impact on the main global problems, biosurfactant production has considerable importance to the implantation of sustainable industrial processes, such as the use of renewable resources and “green” products. Biodegradability and low toxicity have led to the intensification of scientific studies on a wide range of industrial applications for biosurfactants in the field of bioremediation as well as the petroleum, food processing, health, chemical, agricultural and cosmetic industries. In this paper, we offer an extensive review regarding knowledge accumulated over the years and advances achieved in the incorporation of biomolecules in different industries.

Biosurfactants: Multifunctional Biomolecules of the 21st Century

Ionic liquids synthesis and applications: An overview

Ionic liquids (ILs) offer a wide range of promising applications because of their much enhanced properties. However, further development of such materials depends on the fundamental understanding of their hierarchical structures and behaviors, which requires multiscale strategies to provide coupling among various length scales. In this review, we first introduce the structures and properties of these typical ILs. Then, we introduce the multiscale modeling methods that have been applied to the ILs, covering from molecular scale (QM/MM), to mesoscale (CG, DPD), to macroscale (CFD for unit scale and thermodynamics COSMO-RS model and environmental assessment GD method for process scale). In the following section, we discuss in some detail their applications to the four scales of ILs, including molecular scale structures, mesoscale aggregates and dynamics, and unit scale reactor design and process design and optimization of typical IL applications. Finally, we address the concluding remarks of multiscale strat...

Multiscale Studies on Ionic Liquids

Diverse types of microbial surface-active amphiphilic molecules are produced by a range of microbial communities. The extraordinary properties of biosurfactant / bioemulsifier (BS/BE) as surface active products allows them to have key roles in various field of applications such as bioremediation, biodegradation, enhanced oil recovery, pharmaceutics, food processing among many others. This leads to a vast number of potential applications of these BS/BE in different industrial sectors. Despite the huge number of reports and patents describing BS and BE applications and advantages, commercialization of these compounds remain difficult, costly and to a large extent irregular. This is mainly due to the usage of chemically synthesized media for growing producing microorganism and in turn the production of preferred quality products. It is important to note that although a number of developments have taken place in the field of biosurfactant industries, large scale production remains economically challenging for many types of these products. This is mainly due to the huge monetary difference between the investment and achievable productivity from the commercial point of view. This review discusses low cost, renewable raw substrates and fermentation technology in BS/BE production processes and their role in reducing the production cost.

Cost effective technologies and renewable substrates for biosurfactants' production.

Natural surfactants or biosurfactants are amphiphilic biological compounds, usually extracellular, produced by a variety of microorganisms from various substances including waste materials. There is increasing interest on this topic because of their unique properties such as low toxicity, functionality under extreme conditions, based on renewable substances and biologically degradable nature. The diversity of these molecules supports their potential application in the field of petroleum, medicine, agriculture, food, cosmetics etc. They are also effective in curtailing the green-house effect by reducing the emission of CO2. They can be termed as ‘green’ because of their low toxicity, biodegradability and relative stability under a wide range of physicochemical environments. In spite of possessing diverse structures and better physicochemical properties than chemical surfactants, biosurfactants are not able to compete with their synthetic counterparts because of their high production & downstream costs. The commercial realization of these eco-friendly biomolecules is restricted by low productivity, expensive downstream processing and lack of appropriate understanding of the bioreactor systems for their production. But we expect that in future better reactor design and product recovery technology would be developed and overproducer microbial strain would be screened. Then production cost would be decreased and yield would be increased i.e. the production would be both ecologically & economically favored. The present review deals with an overall view on biosurfactants, their properties, advantages & disadvantages, production, characterization, application along with a recommendation for future research.

A review on natural surfactants

Biosurfactants are the surfactants of microbial origin. They offer so many advantages over their synthetic counterparts due to their biodegradable and environmental friendly nature, that’s why gaining much more attention in creating the era of green technology. Their applications range from cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food processes as emulsifiers, humectants, preservatives, detergents etc. The present review deals with the production, purification, characterization and applications of various fungal biosurfactants.

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Biosurfactants from Fungi: A Review

Production of microbial cellulose: Response surface methodology approach.

This study was aimed to obtain maximum yield of phenolic compounds from Punica granatum peel (Bhagwa) by using ultrasonic‐assisted extraction process. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the effect of process variables (amplitude and time) on extraction yield (EY), total phenolic content (TPC), total ellagitannin (TE) and antioxidant activity (AA) at a constant temperature of extraction (50 ± 1°C). Extraction of time (15.12 min) and amplitude (30%) were found to be optimum process conditions and gave maximum yield 42.45%, TPC 354.67 mg GAE/g, TE 348.0 mg TAE/g, and AA 94.78% DPPH scavenging. HPLC analysis of DPPE showed that it contained punicalagin (163.52 mg/g of DPPE) as major ellagitannin compound. SEM showed ultrasonication effectively disrupts the cell wall and improved the extraction efficiency. TGA profile revealed that extract was stable up to 220°C. Peel extract showed high antibacterial activity against both gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Findings of the present investigation would be applied for the utilization of pomegranate (Punica granatum) processing waste or peels, converting it into health‐promoting phenolic bioactive compounds or nutraceuticals and its future application in the development of natural preservatives as well as functional food products.

Optimization of process variables of probe ultrasonic‐assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from the peel of Punica granatum Var. Bhagwa and it's chemical and bioactivity characterization

New chiral ionic liquids based on benzimidazolium salts have been synthesized from the reaction of (−)-menthol or (−)-borneol, chloroacetic acid and 1-methylbenzimidazole. The structures of these chiral ionic liquids have been confirmed from 1H, 13C NMR and mass spectral studies. The application of these chiral ionic liquids in enantioselective sodium borohydride reductions of prochiral ketones to produce optically active alcohols has been studied. The effect of the solvent on the enantioselectivity and reusability of the chiral catalyst has also been studied.

New benzimidazolium-based chiral ionic liquids: synthesis and application in enantioselective sodium borohydride reductions in water

Citrus is one of the most widely cultivated, processed and consumed fruits throughout the world. A large amount of by-products is generated from citrus processing industries, which causes severe en...

Harish Kumar Chopra

Papers

Biosurfactants from Fungi: A Review

Production of microbial cellulose: Response surface methodology approach.

Optimization of process variables of probe ultrasonic‐assisted extraction of phenolic compounds from the peel of Punica granatum Var. Bhagwa and it's chemical and bioactivity characterization

New benzimidazolium-based chiral ionic liquids: synthesis and application in enantioselective sodium borohydride reductions in water

Recent Trends on the Valorization Strategies for the Management of Citrus By-products