Green production of noncytotoxic rhamnolipids from jackfruit waste: process and prospects

The green conversion of jackfruit waste into noncytotoxic biosurfactants shows promise as a biomass refinery approach. In this study, jackfruit waste was extracted and used as the sole media for microbial biosurfactant production. This biomolecule manufacturing procedure yielded 2.3 g/L of biosurfactants, which was detected to contain mainly rhamnolipids (RLs) at a production cost of $ 1.08 kg −1 . These RLs have excellent emulsifying properties against a wide range of hydrophobic substrates, including crude oil, olive oil, kerosene, n -hexadecane, and diesel, showing emulsification index values of 100, 83, 80, 42, and 58%, respectively. The resultant product demonstrated potent antifungal activity against Alternaria solani in in vitro trials, inhibiting up to 83% of fungal growth. In a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay performed against the mouse fibroblastic cell line L292, RLs derived from jackfruit waste were found to be nontoxic, indicating their potential for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.