ISOLATION, SCREENING AND IDENTIFICATION OF BIOSURFACTANT PRODUCING FUNGAL STRAINS

Biosurfactants are the surface active compounds which are of microbial origin that are produced by different strains of bacteria fungi and actinomycetes. Soil samples were collected and 10 fungal colonies were isolated using pour plate method. Out of 10 fungal strains three were selected for further studies based on foaming activity. Preliminary and confirmatory tests were used for the identification of biosurfactant produced by three fungal strains. PS7 showed high biosurfactant production in emulsification index compared to other isolates. In this study morphology of fungal isolates were seen using trinocular microscope. Biosurfactants had different applications in the areas of oil recovery, cosmetics, agriculture, food processing.