Role of biosurfactants in bioremediation of oil pollution-a review

The energy resources mainly petroleum and petroleum hydrocarbons are major pollutants of the environment. The oil and oil products contamination may cause severe harm and hence, the attention has been remunerated in the development of alternative technologies for elimination of these contaminants. Biosurfactants were used in the remediation of oil pollution due to advantages such as biodegradability and low toxicity. The biosurfactants are produced from low cost substrates like agro-industrial wastes which reduce the cost of production. Biosurfactants and bioemulsifiers are amphiphilic compounds and are produced as extracellular or a part of the cell membrane by bacteria. The insight view, how hydrocarbons are degraded by microorganisms and thereby reduce the damage of ecosystem is highly essential to target the problem. Biofilms are the bacterial communities which protects the bacterial cells from various adverse conditions. The present review describes the biosurfactants and its synthesis from bacteria and also emphases on the role of surfactants in oil remediation.