Separation of lactic acid from fermented broth by reactive extraction

The separation of lactic acid from complex fermentation broth was examined. Liquid–liquid extraction using reversible chemical complexation for reactive extraction was chosen to be the separation method. Over 50% yield of lactic acid was obtained from fermented broth in a single extraction step, when using the tertiary amine as the extractant, 1-dekanol as the diluent and trimethylamine (TMA) as the stripping solution. The effect of complex media on the extraction behaviour has hardly been examined previously.