Dataset on potential large scale production of biosurfactant using Bacillus sp.

Surfactants are very important in industry. The cost of commercial surfactant production is still high and the surfactant demand is constantly increasing. Microbial production of surfactant known as biosurfactant shows commercial potency. Utilization of Bacillus sp. strain on glucose fermentation for biosurfactant production was then studied. This type of microbe was isolated from soil contaminated with palm oil. The selection of the strain was based on its ability to form emulsifying zone around the colony and its capability to grow compared with those for commercial bacteria of Bacillus pumilus JCM 2508. The results showed a potentially promising strain with high biosurfactant yields and low surface tension. For further scale-up development, the microbe performance in a fermentor was compared with those in a flask and a proposed model to predict the kinetic profiles of cell mass, biosurfactant and surface tension were also described. The data presented here are related to the research article entitled “Kinetic study and modeling of biosurfactant production using Bacillus sp.” (Heryani and Putra, 2017) [1].