ABSTRACT
In the pharmaceutical and biotechnological industry, the downstream processing of fermentation broths normally involves numerous steps for biomass removal and product purification. In the early days of biomolecule purification, the only practical method used for protein separation from complex mixtures was based on protein precipitation by water miscible organic solvents [1]. Alteration of the solvent properties by the addition of neutral salts and organic solvents leads to precipitation of the macromolecule due to differences in solubility. Alternative processes including adsorption techniques, gel filtration, liquid phase partitioning, electrophoretic methods, and membrane technologies have been developed recently for protein purification. Adsorption techniques often result in purification steps that give the greatest increase in protein purity. Therefore, they became widely employed especially when adopted in combination with chromatographic and membrane processes.
