Antimicrobial Effects of Biosurfactants

Some biosurfactants possess antimicrobial properties. Gram‐positive bacteria were more sensitive against the detergents than gram‐negative bacteria, which were weakly or not inhibited. Especially sophoro‐ and rhamnolipids prevented the growth of Gram‐positive bacteria; the conidia germination of the fungus Glomerella cingulata was influenced by sophoro‐, rhamno‐, trehalose‐ and cellobiose‐lipids, resp. In the case of the Gram‐ negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa not inhibited by those surfactants, our studies indicated that the glycolipids are hydrolyzed by enzymatic reactions.