Evaluation of a new strategy in the elaboration of culture media to produce surfactin from hemicellulosic corncob liquor.

The biosurfactant production is characterized by high costs with substrates, which does not make them sufficiently competitive against synthetic surfactants. The insertion of alternative sources of low cost, especially agro-industrial residue, is an excellent alternative to make this competitiveness viable. An alkaline pretreatment was used to extract the hemicellulose from corncob in order to enhance its C5 fraction, common to vegetable biomasses.