A novel method is provided whereby a free organic acid can be produced
particularly from an ammonium salt of an organic acid having a high
melting point obtainable by bioconversion of a carbon source in the
presence of a neutralizing agent, efficiently at a low cost, and the used
material for reaction and a byproduct can be recycled for reuse without
being disposed. An ammonium salt of organic acid A such as a dicarboxylic
acid, a tricarboxylic acid or an amino acid is subjected to reactive
crystallization by means of acid B such as a monocarboxylic acid
satisfying the following formula (1), to separate free organic acid A in
solid form: pKa(A).ltoreq.pKa(B) (1) where pKa(A) and pKa(B) represent
ionization indices of organic acid A and acid B, respectively, provided
that when they have plural values, they represent the minimum pKa among
them. The crystallization mother liquor after precipitating and
separating organic acid A is, after separating acid B and then an
ammonium salt of acid B, recycled for use in the reactive crystallization
step. The ammonium salt of acid B is decomposed into acid B and ammonia,
which are recycled for use in the reactive crystallization step and as a
neutralizing agent in the bioconversion step, respectively.