Biosurfactant from Bacillus subtilis DS03: Properties and Application in Cleaning Out Place System in a Pilot Sausages Processing

Microbial surfactants (MS) or biosurfactants (BS) are amphiphilic molecules composed of a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic segment, which align at the interface between polar and non-polar compounds, reducing the surface tension. BS production is developed as an alternative to synthetic surfactants because they are biodegradable, with low toxicity and high specificity. Several BS applications are published in this research proposing using a biosurfactant crude extract (BCE) as part of cleaning products. This paper reported the BCE production from Bacillus subtilis DS03 using a medium with molasses. The BCE reduced surface tension from 72 mN/m (water) to 34 mN/m and achieved a critical micelle concentration of 24.66 ppm. The highly effective and efficient behavior characterized the product as a powerful surfactant with stability under a wide pH range, high temperatures, and emulsifying properties, suggesting potential applications in food industry cleaning operations. BCE was also applied in a surface pre-treatment to avoid microbial biofilm development, showing inhibition in more than 90% of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes above 2000 ppm of BCE. It was also tested on a surface post-treatment to remove biofilms reporting a significant reduction of Escherichia coli (50.10%), Staphylococcus aureus (55.77%), and Listeria monocytogenes (59.44%) in a concentration higher than 250 ppm of BCE. Finally, we compared the functionality between sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and BCE. The results suggested that BCE is a promising ingredient for cleaning formulations for industrial food applications.