Biosurfactants: promising bioactive molecules for oral-related health applications

Abstract

One sentence summary: Biosurfactant properties including antimicrobial activity, emulsion formation and the ability to increase bioavailability of hydrophobic compounds make them potential candidates for use in cosmetic, therapeutic, oral hygiene and medical devices. Editor: Geertje van Keulen ABSTRACTBiosurfactants are naturally produced molecules that demonstrate potentially useful properties such as the ability to reduce surface tensions between different phases. Besides having similar properties to their artificial chemical counterparts, they are regarded as environmental friendly, biodegradable and less toxic, which make them desirable candidates for downstream applications. The structure-activity-related properties of the biosurfactants which are directly correlated with potency of the biosurfactants as antimicrobial agents, the ability of the biosurfactants to alter surface energies and their ability to increase bioavailability are particularly what attract researchers to exploit their potential use in the oral-related health applications. Current research into biosurfactant indicates significant future potential for use in cosmetic and therapeutic oral hygiene product formulations and related medical device treatments.

Microbial biosurfactants: current trends and applications in agricultural and biomedical industries

“…() identified a 3–4 log decrease in bacterial viability among oral pathogens (the potential of biosurfactants in oral cavity care has been reviewed in detail by Elshikh et al . ). Bouassida et al .…”

Rhamnolipids and lactonic sophorolipids: natural antimicrobial surfactants for oral hygiene

“…It has recently been reported that the majority of biosurfactants investigated in relation to antimicrobial activities are lipopeptides and lipoproteins (Elshikh et al . ). An example of this are lipoprotein from Lactobacillus paracasei A20, which had shown good antimicrobial and antiadhesive effect against some oral‐related opportunistic microorganisms at concentrations around ≥25 mg ml −1 , a far higher concentration than was demonstrated in this study, (Gudiña et al .…”

“…Regarding LSLs, a recent review on the application of biosurfactants for oral health applications (Elshikh et al . ), concluded that these biomolecules had not been investigated thoroughly. Based on a robust method to determine MIC and a well‐characterized LSL product, our MIC values were much lower than those reported before for antimicrobial activity.…”

“…In a recent review discussing applications of biosurfactants in oral‐related health (Elshikh et al . ), it was concluded that using biosurfactants in oral‐related applications represents a promising area of development. It was also concluded that to enhance research in this field qualitatively and quantitatively, there is a requirement to assess the antimicrobial effect of a wide range of well‐characterized biosurfactant types.…”

Mode of action of poloxamer‐based surfactants in wound care and efficacy on biofilms

“…Other biosurfactants include lipopeptides and lipoproteins, surfactin, lichenysin, fatty acids, phospholipids and neutral lipids. Biosurfactants have been widely used in the food industry to improve the texture and shelf life of products, petrochemical industry to remove oil and petroleum contamination and also in oral hygiene and medical applications …”