Recovery of Antibiotics from Fermentation Broth Membrane Operations

This is an excerpt from the content: The first step in the recovery of antibiotics from fermentation broths is the separation of the cells from the liquid growth media. However, the purification process is different whether or not the product is intracellular or extracellular. In antibiotic production, either options are possible even if the majority of antibiotics, including penicillins, cephalosporins, and streptomycin, are extracellular products. When the desired product is intracellular, after a coarse liquid removal step, the cells are lysed to release the product. The clarification of the antibiotic is then performed to remove the cell debris. In both cases, since the antibiotics are relatively small molecules, a concentrate containing the solid biomass and a permeate containing the antibiotic and other impurities are obtained (Brites Alves et al. 2002). The important steps of the antibiotic production process are the separation of mycelial cells, the chemical extraction of the active molecule, and the purification a ...