A Comparative Preliminary Analysis of Selected Fruit Peel Waste Fermented Solutions: Impact of Shorter Fermentation in Biosurfactant Production

Introduction: Fruit waste mediated biosurfactant (BS) embraces the considerable attention in this green chemistry era to provide an environment benign application. In this study, the impact of a shorter fermentation on the BS production was studied by employing selected fruit peels as a cheaper substrate. Materials and Methods: The avocado, banana, lemon and pineapple fruit peel wastes were collected and used for fermentation along with water and molasses. The setup was treated separately with and without yeast in order to study its effects in fermentation. Results: The effect of yeast as a catalyst in a shorter fermentation period has been found to be negative. The emulsification index (E24) values indicated that the fermented solutions of banana and lemon have better emulsification activity compared to the other fruit waste fermented solutions produced in this study. Foam formation, color removal, and seed germination values suggested that the BS production was very minimum and alcohol was found to be dominant in all the fermented solutions. Conclusions: It can be concluded that the fermentation periods of 30 days are not sufficient to produce the BS in higher quality and quantities by using fruit peels. This is while the fruit peels used in this study are capable to produce and can be used as renewable, eco-friendly, and economic substrates for producing BS in an appropriate fermentation period. Still, further studies are needed to elucidate the complete chemical reaction and the components involved in the experimental setup tested in this study.