Enhanced Production of Biosurfactant from Bacillus subtilis Strain Al-Dhabi-130 under Solid-State Fermentation Using Date Molasses from Saudi Arabia for Bioremediation of Crude-Oil-Contaminated Soils

Naif Abdullah Al-Dhabi, Galal Ali Esmail and Mariadhas Valan Arasu
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Naif Abdullah Al-Dhabi: Addiriyah Chair for Environmental Studies, Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Galal Ali Esmail: Addiriyah Chair for Environmental Studies, Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Mariadhas Valan Arasu: Addiriyah Chair for Environmental Studies, Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-20

Abstract: Crude oil and its derivatives are the most important pollutants in natural environments. Bioremediation of crude oil using bacteria has emerged as a green cleanup approach in recent years. In this study, biosurfactant-producing Bacillus subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130 was isolated from the marine soil sediment. This organism was cultured in solid-state fermentation using agro-residues to produce cost-effective biosurfactants for the bioremediation of crude-oil contaminated environments. Date molasses improved biosurfactant production and were used for further optimization studies. The traditional “one-variable-at-a-time approach”, “two-level full factorial designs”, and a response surface methodology were used to optimize the concentrations of date molasses and nutrient supplements for surfactant production. The optimum bioprocess conditions were 79.3% ( v / w ) moisture, 34 h incubation period, and 8.3% ( v / v ) glucose in date molasses. To validate the quadratic model, the production of biosurfactant was performed in triplicate experiments, with yields of 74 mg/g substrate. These findings support the applications of date molasses for the production of biosurfactants by B. subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130. Analytical experiments revealed that the bacterial strain degraded various aromatic hydrocarbons and n-alkanes within two weeks of culture with 1% crude oil. The crude biosurfactant produced by the B. subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130 desorbed 89% of applied crude oil from the soil sample. To conclude, biosurfactant-producing bacterial strains can increase emulsification of crude oil and support the degradation of crude oil.

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis strain Al-Dhabi-130; biosurfactant; optimization; response surface methodology; crude oil; bioremediation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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