Biosurfactant Production By Rhizobacteria Isolated From Amazonian Soils

The biosurfactants production by non-pathogenic rhizobacteria to plants and animals can be a desirable microbial characteristic to recommend in biodegradation processes of petroleum hydrocarbons. Laboratory experiments were performed with four rhizobacteria, two classifieds as Rhizobium sp, one as Paenibacillus sp and the other as Bradyrhizobium sp., to evaluate their abilities to produce surfactant metabolites using diesel oil as carbon source. They were used individually and in the form of five consortia, using two culture media, SYM and INPA. All treatments showed significant differences among themselves and the emulsifiers production in the media SYM and INPA. The values of the emulsification index water in oil were high, demonstrating the potential of these rhizobacteria to produce biosurfactants, despite the low and medium values acquired in the emulsifying index of oil in water. Consortium 05, composed by bacteria INPA R332, INPA R555 and INPA R713 was the one that produced the largest quantities of emulsifiers using any one of the two media. These results demonstrate that these rhizobacteria may become a viable and safe alternative for soils bioremediation contaminated with petroleum.