BIOEMULSANS - MICROBIAL POLYMERIC EMULSIFIERS

Bioemulsans are amphipathic proteins and/or polysaccharides that stabi lize oil-in-water emulsions. Bioemulsans are produced by a wide divers ity of microorganisms and have potential applications in the food, pap er, paint, bioremediation, agriculture, detergent and cosmetics indust ries. The production of the RAG-1 emulsan has been studied in batch-fe d fermenters via self-cycling fermentation and with immobilized cells using a Celite support matrix. Bioemulsans have several advantages ove r lower molecular weight emulsifiers presently used in industry. The l ast few years have seen a number of new bioemulsans described with com mercial applications. (C) Current Biology Ltd.