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The nutritional requirements and growth characteristics of a biosurfactant-producingRhodococcus bacterium isolated from Kuwaiti soil were determined. Maximum cell yields (6.6 g/l) and biosurfactant production were achieved with a medium containing 2% (v/v)n-paraffin as a carbon and energy source, 0.2% lactose broth, optimal concentrations of nitrogen (nitrate), phosphorus, iron, magnesium and sodium sources, and minimal concentrations of potassium and trace element sources. The optimal pH was 6.8 for surfactant production and optimal temperature was 37°C. The biosurfactant produced after 16 to 33 h growth in a 7 I fermenter decreased both surface tension and interfacial tension of culture broth to below 27 and 1.8 mN/m, respectively, and was effective at critical micelle dilutions of 10(-3). Data on biosurfactant biosynthesis suggest that the product is produced as a primary metabolite and, therefore, could be produced effectively under continuous fermentation conditions.

The contamination of food and feed by Aspergillus has become a global issue with a significant worldwide economic impact. The growth of Aspergillus is unfavourable to the development of food and feed industries, where the problems happen mostly due to the presence of mycotoxins, which is a toxic metabolite secreted by most Aspergillus groups. Moreover, fungi can produce spores that cause diseases, such as allergies and asthma, especially to human beings. High temperature, high moisture, retarded crops, and poor food storage conditions encourage the growth of mold, as well as the development of mycotoxins. A variety of chemical, biological, and physical strategies have been developed to control the production of mycotoxins. A biological approach, using a mixed culture comprised of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactobacillus rhamnosus resulted in the inhibition of the growth of fungi when inoculated into fermented food. The results reveal that the mixed culture has a higher potential (37.08%) to inhibit the growth of Aspergillus flavus (producer of Aflatoxin) compared to either single culture, L. rhamnosus NRRL B-442 and S. cerevisiae, which inhibit the growth by 63.07% and 64.24%, respectively.

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The corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 0.5 M H2SO4 solution has been investigated using electrochemical methods, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The adsorption and inhibition action of acid corrosion of mild steel using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTABr) and different halides (NaCl, NaBr and NaI) has shown synergetic effect. The results showed that the protection efficiency (P%) has high values at considerable high concentration of CTABr. However, in the presence of the different halides, the P increases dramatically at low concentration of CTABr. Physisorption was proposed from the the values of ΔGads0. The synergism parameter (Sθ) is found to be greater than unity indicating that the enhanced P% caused by the addition of the halides to the CTABr is due to a co-operative adsorption of both species. Corrosion products phases and surface morphology were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively.