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.