Vesicle formation in hydrocarbons assisted with microbial hydrolases and biosurfactants.

ABSTRACT

The present study demonstrates the role of microbial hydrolases in the transformation of hydrocarbons (soybean, sunflower, groundnut and gingelly oil, etc.) to vesicles. The combined effect of lipolytic enzyme generation and biosurfactants production during microbial growth at optimized media and environmental conditions mediates this transformation. Among the microbial species, Candida albicans exhibit complete transformation compared to Pseudomonads and Bacillus sps. Within hydrocarbons, only soybean and sunflower oils transformed to solid mass and no change with the remaining oils. Characterization of the vesicles revealed an increase in total weight by 160-180% compared to the original weight of hydrocarbon taken for the study and more than 73% increases in viscosity. Acid value and saponification value also showed an increase, respectively, by 78 and 84%. The bound water content estimated was 26%. Light microscopic analysis exhibit, presence of unilamellar and bi-lamellar structures.