Kinetic study of biosurfactant production with Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 424 using residual rice bran oil as substrate

Abstract

In this study, the rhamnolipid biosurfactant was produced using Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 424 culture with low-cost residual rice bran oil substrate as sole carbon source extracted from the spent bleaching earth discarded by vegetable oil processing industry. Different initial rice bran oil concentrations were used with varying concentrations of carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) and sodium nitrate (NaNO₃), which were utilized for higher cell mass yield and rhamnolipid biosurfactant production. The mathematical Monod model was applied and compared with the experimental data. The modified Monad model was able to predict a brewing profile with a high determination coefficient (R²) value of 0.9403. The results were found fit in this context and may prove invaluable for developing facilities for production of higher biosurfactant yield by using yield coefficient and specific growth rate data from the study.