Utilization of Chicken Tallow for the Production of Cationic Biosurfactant and Thereof for Decontamination of Cr(III) Containing Soil

This work describes the bioremoval of Cr (III) from contaminated soil by cationic biosurfactant produced from Alcaligenesaquatilis sp. using chicken tallow as substrate. Its cationic nature was conformed through the amino acid composition. The optimized conditions for the production of cationic lipopeptide were found to be 96h, pH 4 and temperature 37̊C.The biochemical characteristics of the cationic lipopeptide show that the protein concentration is 26.06mg/g and lipid concentration is 60mg/g respectively. The SDS-PAGE revealed that the molecular weight of the biosurfactant is 100.2 KDa. Chromium removal studies were performed to determine the effect of time,pH and temperature on the removal of Cr by the cationic biosurfactant as well as anionic biosurfactant. Adsorption isotherm studies were performed using Languir and Freundlich isotherms to determine the extent of adsorption of the biosurfactant onto the soil. The characterization of Cationic Biosurfactant was carried out using FTIR, TGA, DSC UV-Visible spectroscopy and Fluorescence spectroscopy. This cationic biosurfactant was used for Insitu Bioremediation of Cr from contaminated soil. The initial concentration of Cr in the soil sample collected was found to be 19.5mg/g using standard Cr estimation method. The removal of Cr from the soil was confirmed after estimating the Cr concentration in the soil treated with cationic biosurfactant. Finally seed germination studies were carried out for Cr sensitive seeds such as Zea mays (Maize), Luffa (Ridge Gourd), Trigonellafoenum-graecum (Fenugreek) using the treated and untreated soil and comparisons were made.Thus conformed the results collected in the present study indicate that the cationic biosurfactant can be considered for exchange of chromium from contaminated soil.