Green cleaning activity of Bacillus salmalaya 139Sl: a novel strain for removing common household stains

Many cleaning products contain chemicals that can be harmful to human health, and manufacturers do not receive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval whether the ingredients in the products are safe or not. The use of commercially available detergents for household cleaning on a daily basis can also have a negative impact on the environment. Hence, this study proposed the application of Bacillus salmalaya, a Gram positive, facultatively aerobic, bacilli-shaped endospore-forming bacteria that are capable of producing various enzymes suitable for cleaning. This study demonstrated the ability of B. salmalaya's cell-free supernatant to clean common household stains. The cleaning capability of supernatant was compared with two different cleaning agents, i.e., detergent and water. Cleaning images were analyzed using spot-density analysis computer program, which measures the stain's color intensity to quantify the cleaning capacity of each cleaning agent before and after cleaning. Results show that the detergent cleans the best for most stains. Interestingly, the cleaning ability of the supernatant of higher concentration does not deviate much from detergent. In soy sauce, the supernatant cleans better than detergent by 15%, whereas in ketchup and oil, the cleaning ability of the supernatant is less than detergent by 2% and 16%, respectively. However, no significant difference was observed when cleaning turmeric extract. Thus, these imply that B. salmalaya's supernatant has the potential as an eco-friendly cleaning agent and needs to be further investigated to develop a more effective formula and commercially feasible product and therefore be the key to reduce the impacts on environmental pollution.