The efficiency of purified bacteriocin from Lactobacillus acidophilus as a bioremediator of the burned engine and motor oils

Petroleum hydrocarbons are one of the most prevalent and ubiquitous environmental pollutants, causing health and environmental risks, so some isolates from cows and buffalos were used in this study to remove these pollutants. Nine isolates of Lactobacillus spp from 20 samples of cows and buffalos milk types. 5 Lactobacillus acidophilus isolates were used in this study because of their excellent production of bacteriocin compared with the other species. The isolates were purified as follows: 70% saturation of ammonium salt followed by gel filtration on Sephadex -G150 was used to purify the bacteriocin. It resulted in a 47.75 % yield with 4.7-fold purification. The results of this study showed the use of 80µg/ml of bacteriocin increased the removal of hydrophobic pollutants from the burned motor and engine oils by 41% after 24 hours, which was more efficient than high doses of bacteriocin. For example, 100 µg/mL of bacteriocin removed only 33% of the contaminants. Furthermore, by extending the incubation period to 7 days, the hydrocarbon degradation percentage was increased by 78% in engine oil and 89% in burned motor oil. Thus, it can be concluded that bacteriocin bioremediation is an efficient and cost-effective biological treatment for eliminating petroleum hydrocarbons from water and protecting natural resources.