Microbial Endophytes Biosurfactants: Potential Biomolecules for Sustainable Green Cleaning in Households and Industries

Microbial endophytes are bacteria and fungi that live symbiotically within plant tissues without causing disease. These microorganisms produce biosurfactants, amphiphilic biomolecules with strong surface-active and antimicrobial properties that serve as sustainable alternatives to conventional chemical cleaners. This review presents current advances in endophyte-derived biosurfactants, particularly rhamnolipids and sophorolipids, which effectively reduce surface tension by 30–50 mN/m and exhibit potent activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In contrast to synthetic cleaners, which contribute to approximately 5% of indoor volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and are associated with health risks including allergic contact dermatitis and respiratory issues, biosurfactants are biodegradable, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly. Recent advances in synthetic biology, including CRISPR/Cas9-mediated engineering of biosynthetic gene clusters, have improved production yields by 10–20%, addressing key scalability challenges. While previous reviews have broadly examined microbial biosurfactants, this work specifically highlights the underexplored potential of endophyte-sourced biosurfactants, integrating their unique ecological origins, dual cleaning–antimicrobial mechanisms, comparative performance against chemical cleaners, and CRISPR-based engineering strategies for scalable green cleaning applications in the households and industries.