Biosurfactant production by microorganisms on unconventional carbon sources

In recent years natural biosurfactants have attracted attention because of their low toxicity, biodegradability, and ecological acceptability. However , for reasons of functionality and production cost, they are not competitiv e with chemical surfactants. Use of inexpensive substrates can drastically decrease the production cost of biosurfactants. This review describes the u se of unconventional carbon sources for biosurfactant production. These sou rces include urban as well as agroindustrial wastes. With suitable engineer ing and microbiological modifications, these wastes can be used as substrat es for large-scale production of biosurfactants.