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Effect of substrate on sophorolipid properties
Author(s) -
Glenns Robert N.,
Cooper David G.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of the american oil chemists' society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 117
eISSN - 1558-9331
pISSN - 0003-021X
DOI - 10.1007/s11746-006-1186-y
Subject(s) - chemistry , yeast , surface tension , substrate (aquarium) , heptadecane , hexadecane , carbon chain , carbon fibers , organic chemistry , stereochemistry , biochemistry , materials science , physics , oceanography , quantum mechanics , composite number , composite material , geology
This research demonstrates that the formation of a crystalline sophorolipid product, by Candida bombicola can be attributed to two overlapping types of discrimination by the enzymes of this yeast. The first of these is a preference for direct incorporation of hydrocarbons having a chain length between 15 and 18 carbon atoms if these are in the medium. The second is a preference for the formation of the diacetylated lactone structure if hydroxycarboxylic acids that are 16 or 17 carbon atoms long are attached to the disaccharide. The combined effect is to produce a product mixture that contains a large amount of a single structure of sophorolipid that can result, in a crystalline product if either hexadecane or heptadecane is the sole lipophilic carbon source. Surface tension measurements of the various components isolated from the sophorolipid mixtures showed that the mono‐and diacetylated lactones were the most effective surfactants. This is consistent with literature reports that the lactone form of the sophorolipids is more useful for a number of applications than the open acidic structure. The surface tension behavior of some of the sophorolipids demonstrated patterns similar to those usually observed for carboxylic acids and other sparingly soluble amphipathic compounds.