The goal of this research is to evaluate the potential of using membrane based solvent extraction for the recovery of vanillin obtained by bioconversion of ferulic acid in view of the on-line extraction from the bioconversion broth, thus coupling bioconversion and separation. The partition coefficients of vanillin and ferulic acid in various solvents were measured. Good properties were shown by ethyl and n-butyl acetate: at pH 7 these solvents showed high affinity for vanillin and low affinity for ferulic acid. At high pH, on the contrary, vanillin is more soluble in water than in the solvent, thus making possible the counter-extraction of vanillin from the solvent used in the extraction. Extraction and counter-extraction experiments were performed by hollow fibre modules, the feed flowed either through the lumen or in the shell side. The overall mass transfer coefficients were calculated from the data and compared with theoretical values. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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