Expanded Bed Adsorption of γ‐Aminobutyric Acid from E. coli broth by CS16GC and IRC747 Resins

Expanded‐bed adsorption (EBA) is an efficient downstream technology that enhances the techno‐economic potential of bio‐based industries. However, application of EBA for bulk biochemicals requires the use of industrial resins. Therefore, two cation exchangers, namely, gel‐type CS16GC and porous IRC747, were tested to purify γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) from unclarified E. coli fermentation broth. Experiments compared the impact of gel‐type and macroporous resin properties on the EBA process performance. As an outcome, the gel‐type resin exhibited higher GABA binding capacity of compared to that of macroporous resin. This was due to improved hydrodynamics and uniform flow distribution in the case of gel‐type resin. Further, CS16GC effectively removed ≥ 99 % of impurities and achieved ≥ 97 % GABA yield.