Biosurfactants as Antimicrobial Ingredients for Cleaning Products and Cosmetics

A considerable number of biosurfactants have been investigated for their antibacterial, antifungal or antiviral activity that is mostly based on the ability to destroy microbial cell membranes. In addition, some of them are also able to inhibit the adhesion of microorganisms to surfaces and tissues. Although these antimicrobial properties can be generally explained by a strong detergency effect, there are further mechanisms, such as the interaction with membrane phospholipids or the alteration of the electrical conductance of membranes, resulting in the damage of microbial cells. Typically, antimicrobially active biosurfactants are glycolipids (e.g. rhamnolipids) or cyclic lipopeptides (e.g. Polymyxin). Since most of these substances were not available in larger quantities in the past, their potential applications in cleaners and cosmetics was not studied intensely, however, their versatility and the possibility of combining different properties, such as cleaning and antimicrobial effects, suggest a further consideration of biosurfactants even for mass-market products.