Abstract

Biosurfactants are amphiphilic molecules that accumulate at interfaces, decrease interfacial tensions and form aggregate structures. Biosurfactants are important alternatives to chemical surfactants due to low toxicity, thermo-tolerant, specificity and ability to produce renewable cheaper substrates. The aim of this research is to isolate some bacteria from Agro-industrial wastes and screen for their ability to produce biosurfactant. Three (3) screening methods; blood haemolysis, emulsification index (EI24) and blue agar hydrolysis were used to confirm biosurfactant production. The most outstanding isolates in order of their potential to produce biosurfactants are: Enterobacter cloacae, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus coagulans, Acinetobacteria mallei, Bacillus megaterium, Corynebacterium striatum, Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium pilosum, Bacillus laterosporus, Enterobacter intermedius, Bacillus brevis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus polymyxa. Enterobacter cloacae is isolated as the most outstanding isolated from Palm kernel, other successful isolates are from Cassava flake, followed by isolates from Poultry dung. It is recommended that more research should be focused on Bacillus species for optimisation and production of biosurfactant production since despite its different origins, it is always successful, also, more promising isolates should be researched from Palm kernel.