Direct capture of product from fermentation broth using a cell-repelling ion exchanger

A new technique for treating anion exchangers has been proposed allowing direct capture of the fermentation product, shikimic acid directly from the cell-containing fermentation broth. A layer of hydrophilic polymer, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) has been physically adsorbed on the anion exchanger followed by a covalent cross-linking of PAA. The PAA layer is penetrable for small molecules despite being negatively charged as PAA is, but the polymer layer repels large negatively charged structures like cell debris and cells preventing them from adsorption to the chromatographic matrix. The binding capacity for pure shikimic was about 81 mg/ml adsorbent for both cross-linked PAA–Amberlite and native Amberlite in the fluidized mode of column operation. Binding capacity dropped to 17 and 15 mg per ml adsorbent, respectively, when using filtrated fermentation broth and to about 10 mg/ml adsorbent for cross-linked PAA–Amberlite when using directly the fermentation broth containing cells. Native Amberlite cannot be used for the direct capture of shikimic acid due to the immediate clogging of the column and the collapse of the expanded bed. The cross-linked PAA–Amberlite was used repeatedly for the direct adsorption of shikimic acid from the industrial fermentation broth.