New Approaches for the Economic Production of Rhamnolipid Biosurfactants from Renewable Resources

Rhamnolipids are versatile biosurfactants with excellent interfacial properties and addi-tional ecological features such as biodegradability and biocompatibility. Furthermore, they display various biological activities including antimicrobial, antiviral and antifun-gal activity. Rhamnolipids are commonly produced biotechnologically with Pseudomo-nas aeruginosa in batch- or fed-batch cultivations whereas different substrates like plant oil, glycerol, sugars and even hydrocarbons can be employed.