Isolation of microbial product
Once the fermentation is complete, it is necessary to recover the desired metabolite. Minimally, this will involve separation of the cells from the fermentation broth. But it may also include, purification of the metabolite with or without cell disruption; cell disruption will be necessary if the metabolite is intracellular. Such operations are referred to as downstream processing. The steps involved in isolation of the desired microbial product are: (1) separation of cells from the fermented broth, (2) cell disruption if the product is intracellular or concentration of the broth if the product is extracellular (3) initial purification of the metabolite, (4) metabolite-specific purification in which the metabolite of interest is purified to a high degree, and (5) polishing of the metabolite (bringing it to 98 -100% purity) where it is further concentrated and formulated for use.
A. Cite an example of pure metabolite that can be obtained from above depicted flow chart.
B. Suggest a suitable term which includes all the steps mentioned above.
C. In the second step mentioned above, “Which part will you use to isolate intracelluar product?”
D. Why is it generally recommended to have minimum number of steps in these isolation processes?
