eng Science and Education Publishing Journal of Applied & Environmental Microbiology 2373-6712 2017-07-19 5 2 74 78 10.12691/jaem-5-2-3 JAEM2017523 article M. Rajesh 1 M. Samundeeswari 1 B. Archana archanaabalan18@gmail.com 1 Department of Zoology, The American College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India Biosurfactants are amphiphilic compounds secreted extra-cellularly by microorganisms. Biosurfactants contains hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties that reduce the surface tension and interfacial tension by accumulating at the interface of hydrophobic substances and thus increase the solubility, bioavailability and subsequent biodegradation of the hydrophobic or insoluble organic compounds. The present study focused on the isolation of biosurfactant producing microorganisms from garbage soil. Isolated microorganisms were identified based on the biochemical characterization as Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus. Qualitative analysis of biosurfactant production was identified by performing assays like hemolysis on blood agar, penetration assay and C-TAB agar assay. The present study confirms that isolated microorganisms have biosurfactant property. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jaem/5/2/3/jaem-5-2-3.pdf biosurfactant staphylococcus aureus bacillus cereus