Tulio de LuccaCapelini tuliocap@gmail.com
Roberta Barros Lovaglio lovaglio@rc.unesp.br
Jonas Contiero jconti@rc.unesp.br
Biosurfactants are secondary metabolites that can be applied in different industrial processes. The greatest advantage of these compounds is their low toxicity and high biodegradability. Despite the numerous advantages, they are not commercially used due to the high cost of production, and a way to reduce these costs is the optimization of the compounds of the medium.The objective of this work was study the influence of trace elements in the rhamnolipids production by P. aeruginosa LBI from soybean oil. In the control was added 50Lμ/L of trace solution following the protocol of Robert salts. Volumes of solution were used at concentrations of trace elements copper, manganese and zinc equivalent to the mineral medium free of calcium, respectively 2.4, 1.6, 2.9 mL.The addition was in a single initial application or divided in four applications. Rhamnolipids were measured by HPLC. The production of rhamnolipids in control was 0.317 g/L and in the others experimentswere observed increases of over 150%. The test using 1.6 ml in a single application had a yield of 1.13 g/L. Because micronutrients develop roles in metabolism and cellular constituents, their larger availability favored bacteria. Manganese, for example, is present as a cofactor in the citric acid cycle, and zinc is needed by enzymes to cellular maintenance and replication.More tests will be performed to adjust the volume and the ideal composition, however, this study demonstrates the importance of trace elements and their how can increased production of rhamnolipids.