EN
Surface active agents (surfactants) are generally amphiphilic substances consisting of hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties. They have many applications in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industry, pollution control, etc. Lipases (EC 3.1.1.3; acyloglycerol hydrolase) have many applications and they are able to catalyze synthesis of biosurfactants ie. mono- and diacyloglycerols, carbohydrate esters of fatty acids etc. These products are biodegradable, natural, non-toxic and aceptable by consumers. In this article enzymatic methods of synthesis of biosurfactants are presented.