Functional characterization of biomedical potential of biosurfactant produced by Lactobacillus helveticus

Various lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been isolated and screened for biosurfactant production and their biomedical and food applications. Additionally, various different concentrations of the biosurfactant (0.625-25 mg ml^-1) were used to evaluate its antimicrobial and antiadhesive potential against a range of pathogenic microorganisms. Biosurfactant was found to be stable to pH changes over a range of 4.0-12.0, being most effective at pH 7 and showed no apparent loss of surface tension and emulsification efficiency after heat treatment at 125 °C for 15 min. Present study demonstrated that biosurfactant obtained from Lactobacillus helveticus has the ability to counteract effectively the initial deposition of biofilm forming pathogens to silicone surfaces and to significantly sluggish biofilm growth.