One of the teams of the Student Creativity Programme for Exact Research of the S-1 Biology Study Programme of the Faculty of Science and Technology, Universitas Airlangga has passed the PKM 2024 funding. The team members are Yesyi Lestari, Rezky Ari Putra, and Alifa Jeanny Camila, who are mentored by Almando Geraldi, S.Si., Ph.D.
Exploration of Biosurfactant Producing Bacteria from Liquid Waste of Fish Processing Industry
The PKM-RE FST UNAIR team called the Biosure team (which stands for “Biosurfactant for Bioremediation“) proposed a research idea regarding the isolation and potential test of biosurfactant-producing bacteria from the liquid waste of the fish processing industry as an effort to bioremediate soil polluted by oil spills. This research was conducted to support the realisation of the 8th, 12th, and 15th points of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), namely economic growth, sustainable production, and terrestrial ecosystems. Bacteria successfully isolated from liquid waste samples taken from PT Dimas Reiza Perwira were then subjected to screening tests to determine the ability of bacteria to produce biosurfactants and oil removal tests to determine the ability of bacteria to remove oil from the biosurfactants produced.
Utilising Potential Bacteria as Oil Removal Agents in Bioremediation of Oil Spill Contaminated Soil
Yesyi and his team initiated research related to soil bioremediation using biosurfactants to reduce the use of synthetic surfactants and increase revenue from biosurfactant sales by utilising biosurfactant-producing bacteria from fish processing industry wastewater.
“Until now, there has been no effort to utilise fish processing industry effluent for biosurfactant production that refers to circular economy practices as an effort to reduce pollutants and resource consumption. Therefore, this research is proposed to explore and obtain biosurfactant-producing bacterial isolates isolated from fish processing industry wastewater as an oil removal agent in bioremediation of oil spill contaminated soil,” explained Yesyi as team leader.
Biosurfactants are surface-active compounds synthesised by microbes (Utamy et al., 2021). Biosurfactant-producing bacteria are commonly found in oil- and fat-polluted environments, such as oil-polluted soil and fish processing industry wastewater. The advantages of biosurfactants over synthetic surfactants include being environmentally friendly, biodegradable, low toxicity, high solubility, and tolerant to extreme conditions (Amraini et al., 2021).
This research is expected to provide benefits in the development of research related to bacteria capable of producing biosurfactants and efforts to bioremediate oil-polluted soil using biosurfactants that are more environmentally friendly.
Author: PKM Team (Instagram: biosure.unair, email: biosureunair@gmail.com)
