Phase Separation of Lactan Gum from Fermentation Broths by Addition of Water-Miscible Organic Solvents

Abstract

Abstract A microbial polysaccharide (lactan gum) produced by bacterium ATCC 55046 was precipitated from fermentation broths by the addition of ethanol, acetone, isopropanol, or tert-butanol. Compositions of the precipitate and supernatant phases were determined as a function of organic solvent concentration and used to construct binodal solubility curves. Lactan did not precipitate at bulk-mixture organic solvent concentrations below 35% (wt) ethanol, 35% acetone, 33% isopropanol, or 25% tert-butanol. At organic solvent concentrations just exceeding the solubility transition point, the precipitates were soft, moist, and sponge-like in texture, with low lactan concentrations. At higher organic solvent concentrations the precipitates were compact and dense. The maximum lactan concentration in the precipitate was 25–37%, depending on the organic solvent type and concentration. Increasing the organic solvent concentration beyond 50% for ethanol, or 70% for acetone, decreased the lactan concentration in the precipitate. No such decrease occurred for isopropanol and tert-butanol. Thus, organic solvent usage, from greatest to least, was in the order ethanol, acetone, isopropanol, and tert-butanol, but the maximum lactan concentration in the precipitate, from greatest to least, was in the order acetone, isopropanol, ethanol, and tert-butanol.