Book

Description

Sophorolipids are biosurfactants produced mainly by non-pathogenic yeast Starmerella bombicola. They are composed of a sugar moiety linked to a fatty acid chain and their structure depends on the producer microorganism and the fermentations condition. Sophorolipids present several advantages over chemical surfactants as high biodegradability, diversity of biological properties and renewable characteristics being synthesized as a mixture of different molecules. In general, they can be divided into two main forms: acidic and lactonic and may have acetyl groups in the sophorose with variation in physicochemical and biological properties. They have numerous properties including the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity that allow their application in several sector of industry.