Downstream Processing

With microbial sources, becoming a promising alternative for the production of many useful metabolites, these biotechnological processes have taken an upper hand. Many industries are working using these processes. However, the downstream processing of these processes is very expensive. Various equipments are required for these processes and many parameters need to be optimized. The microbial products can be either intracellular or extracellular. In case the product is intracellular, the cells need to be disrupted which is a very cumbersome procedure. However, with the recent developments, many separation methods have been adopted. The microbial cells vary in size, and this makes the separation process very challenging. For the separation of the cells, they can be either induced/aggregated/enlarged into fibers or into large spheres. With this, the gravity sedimentation or press filtration becomes easier and can separate the cells smoothly. Scientists have worked by genetic manipulation, on the genes which are involved in these processes. During the downstreaming of products, the cells can also be lysed by introducing the lytic genes into the cells. This chapter discusses the different methods of downstreaming of metabolites which are either extracellular or intracellular.