Production of Lipopeptide Biosurfactant by Indigenous Isolate of Bacillus sp. BMN 14 In a Batch Bioreactor

Abstract

The ability of Bacillus sp BMN 14, an indig'!nous strain isolated from palm oil contaminated soH, to grow and produce Iipopeptide biosurfactant on various sugar (glucose, fructose and sucrose with concentration of 1.0; 2.0; 3.0; 4.0; 5.0 and 6.0 % was firstly studied on shake flask cultures. Among those various sugar tested, 4.0 % glucose in mineral salts medium supported maximum growth and highest biosurfactant yield. The production of biosurfactant was then investigated in a batch 2-L stirred tank bioreactor at temperature 30° C and pH 6.5-7.0 The highest performance of bioreactor was obtained at an aeration rate of 0.5 vvm. In this process, the maximum biomass of 4.19 giL, biosurfactant concentration of 0.87 giL, and lowest surface tension of28.3 mN/m were obtained.