Isolation and structural characterization of biosurfactant produced by an alkaliphilic bacterium Cronobacter sakazakii isolated from oil contaminated wastewater

Production of biosurfactant from an alkaliphilic bacterium Cronobacter sakazakii (accession no. JN398668) was screened by haemolytic assay, emulsifying activity and surface tension measurement. Biosurfactant, comprised of total sugars (73.3%), reducing sugars (1.464%), protein (11.9%), uronic acid (15.98%) and sulfate (6.015%), showed low viscosity with pseudoplastic rheological behavior and exhibited significant emulsification activity with oils and hydrocarbons. A series of low and mid range mass peaks (m/z) corresponding to mono-, di-, tri- and oligosaccharides were detected in the positive ion reflector mode of MALDI TOF–TOF MS. GC–MS analysis revealed composition of monosaccharide moieties (w/w) viz. glucose (14%), mannose (24%), galactose (14%), xylose (20%) and arabinose (1.9%). 1H NMR, FT-IR and EDX analyses confirmed the characteristic various functional groups, bonds and elements respectively. Thermostability (up to 260 °C) and CI (0.456) were determined by TG and DSC analyses. Inherent properties of biosurfactant make it a potential candidate for bioremediation of oil and hydrocarbons.