Optimization of Culture Conditions for Biosurfactant Production from Pseudomonas aeruginosa OCD1

Abstract

The air isolate Pseudomonas aeruginosa OCD1 was studied for its maximal biosurfactant production in liquid Bushnell-Haas media with n-octadecane as the substrate. Several culture conditions were investigated to maximize biosurfactant production from the strain OCD1. The optimum culture conditions were found to be 1% v/v inoculum, 2% v/v n-octadecane, 30oC temperature, 125 r.p.m. and pH 6.0 with extra 30% w/v CaCl2.2H2O in growth medium. The strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa OCD1 produced 0.98 mg/mL rhamnolipid in the culture broth at the stationary growth phase. Again, the biosurfactant production was enhanced by the addition of ZnSO4 followed by MnSO4 in the culture media at the optimized conditions.