Biologically sourced surfactants will help organic farmers
Many personal hygiene products and other cosmetics include chemical compounds known as surfactants. However, the European natural cosmetics sector lacks a sustainable source of natural and organic surfactants. The EU-funded O4S (Sustainable surfactant production from renewable resources through natural fermentation for applications in natural, organically-certified products) project aimed to optimise the efficiency and cost of natural surfactant production on an industrial scale. Researchers began by benchmarking available industrial, bio-based and biological surfactants. The products were evaluated for physical and chemical characteristics and for their foaming and emulsifying properties. Organically certified raw materials were sourced from waste streams and the by-products of industrial processes. A fungal strain (Pseudozyma aphidis) able to produce a promising biosurfactant called mannosylerythritol lipid (MEL) was chosen for testing and scale-up to industrial production volume. Researchers then optimised the process of MEL production via fermentation and tested the microbially produced surfactant for foaming ability, surface tension, purity and water solubility. O4S also showed that the product was non-toxic and classified as a mild cosmetic based on laboratory skin tests. O4S has brought scientists much closer to high-performance, low-cost biosurfactants. The knowledge generated by O4S researchers will help the EU cosmetics sector comply with stringent regulations and support European organic farmers.
Keywords
Surfactants, organic, cosmetics, O4S, fermentation, biosurfactant
