A mini review on synthetic and biosurfactants: origin and structure, physicochemical properties, applications, cost of production, toxicity, biodegradability and environmental effects

Abstract

A comparison is made between synthetic and biosurfactants in terms of their origin, structure, physico-chemical properties, applications, production costs, toxicity, biodegradability and environmental impact. It is shown that the chemical structure of surfactants synthesised by living organisms is more complicated than that of those produced by classical methods. The reduction in water surface tension induced by synthetic and biosurfactants is almost the same. Due to their origin and structure, biosurfactants are preferred in medical, cosmetic and food applications, mainly because they are less toxic than synthetic surfactants. Synthetic surfactants require more time and special environmental conditions to start the biodegradation process compared to biosurfactants, which can easily start biodegradation under normal physical conditions. This mini-review highlights this new category of surfactants (biosurfactants). It also provides a comparison between synthetic and biosurfactants is provided using the available data reported in the literature.