In the current scenario of changing climatic conditions and the rising global population, there is an urgent need to explore novel, efficient, and economical natural products for the benefit of humankind. Biosurfactants are one of the latest explored microbial synthesized biomolecules that have been used in numerous fields, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food processing, and environment-cleaning industries, as a source of raw materials, for the lubrication, wetting, foaming, emulsions formulations, and as stabilizing dispersions. The amphiphilic nature of biosurfactants have shown to be a great advantage, distributing themselves into two immiscible surfaces by reducing the interfacial surface tension and increasing the solubility of hydrophobic compounds. Furthermore, their eco-friendly nature, low or even no toxic nature, durability at higher temperatures, and ability to withstand a wide range of pH fluctuations make microbial surfactants preferable compared to their chemical counterparts. Additionally, biosurfactants can obviate the oxidation flow by eliciting antioxidant properties, antimicrobial and anticancer activities, and drug delivery systems, further broadening their applicability in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Nowadays, biosurfactants have been broadly utilized to improve the soil quality by improving the concentration of trace elements and have either been mixed with pesticides or applied singly on the plant surfaces for plant disease management. In the present review, we summarize the latest research on microbial synthesized biosurfactant compounds, the limiting factors of biosurfactant production, their application in improving soil quality and plant disease management, and their use as antioxidant or antimicrobial compounds in the pharmaceutical industries.

Here we examine the effects of different carrier based bioinoculants on the growth, yield and nutritional value of chickpea and on associated soil nutrients. A consortium of two taxonomically distinct endophytic bacteria—Ensifer adhaerens MSN12 and Bacillus cereus MEN8—have promising plant growth promoting (PGP) attributes. We demonstrate their delivery from the laboratory to the field via the formulation of an effective bioinoculant with economic and accessible carriers. Sugarcane straw ash (SCSA) was found to be an efficient carrier and bioformulation for enhancing viability and shelf-life of strains up to 12 months. A bioformulation containing an SCSA-based consortium (MSN12 + MEN8) increased seed germination by 7%, plant weight by 29%, length by 17%, seed-yield by 12%, harvesting index by 14% and proximate nutritional constituents by 20% over consortium treatment without SCSA. In addition, the bioformulation of post-harvest treated soil improved the physico-chemical properties of the soil in comparison to a pre-sowing SCSA-based bioformulation treated crop, being fortified in different proximate nutritional constituents including dry matter (30%), crude protein (45%), crude fiber (35%), and ether extract (40%) in comparison to the control. Principal component analysis and scattered matrix plots showed a positive correlation among the treatments, which also validates improvement in the soil nutrient components and proximate constituents by T6 treatment (MSN12 + MEN8 + SCSA). The above results suggest efficiency of SCSA not only as a carrier material but also to support microbial growth for adequate delivery of lab strains as a substitute for chemi-fertilizers.