Utilisation of Electrodialysis membranes for the recovery of amino acids from enzymatic reaction mixtures-(EDAM).

The purpose of the EDAM project is to test the feasibility of combining two well established technologies in order to develop an innovative process for the production and isolation of amino acids. Biocatalysis is a well established technology in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, allowing the conversion of an amino acid precursor into a target amino acid using 1 or 2 enzymes. Electrodialysis membranes have been used for many years in the water purification industry, however wider applications of this technology remain under utilised. We propose to utilise a two enzyme reaction system to facilitate the production of amino acids. Subsequent application of a direct current electric field to the reaction mixture will then lead to electromigration of the charged amino acid species across an ion exchange membrane and product purification.