Rhamnolipid Biosurfactants Production and Application in Agriculture

Surfactants have a significant role as cleaning, wetting, dispersing, emulsifying, foaming and anti-foaming agents in numerous functional applications and products. Majority of the surfactants present these days are derived from petrochemical sources, where they lead to environmental issues because of their low biodegradability and they also consume non-renewable resources. Among biosurfactants, rhamnolipid, a class of glycolipid mainly known from bacteria of the Pseudomonas genus is a promising biosurfactant. Rhamnolipids chemical properties resemble petroleum-derived surfactant suitably used as emulsifier, spreaders and dispersing agent in pesticide formulations. Rhamnolipids also acts as bio-pesticide against agricultural pests, showed insecticidal activity against green peach aphids, biocontrol agents against several phytopathogenic fungi. The addition of rhamnolipids or rhamnolipids containing cell-free broth is effective in inhibiting the growth of phytopathogens, e.g., F. oxysprum, B. cinerea, Mucor spp. and many more. In this review, a specific overview is given regarding rhamnolipid biosurfactant and its potential used in agricultural applications. The mechanism and factors affecting efficient lysis of the wide range of plant pathogens are described in this chapter.