摘要 |
<p>The present invention provides for a method for obtaining a polysaccharide substantially free from whole bacterial cells and bacterial cell debris including: (a) fermenting a Sphingomonas bacterium, which produces the polysaccharide, to produce an aqueous fermentation broth having the polysaccharide dissolved therein; (b) diluting the fermentation broth with an equal volume of deionized water; (c) partially hydrolyzing the polysaccharide by exposing the fermentation broth resulting from step (b) to a temperature in excess of 100 °C for a time period from about ten minutes to about one hour; (d) removing bacterial cells from the polysaccharide by centrifugation of the fermentation broth and recovery of a supernatant aqueous liquid; (e) precipitating the polysaccharide from the supernatant aqueous liquid by adding a second liquid to the supernatant aqueous liquid, wherein the second liquid is miscible with water, non-reactive with the polysaccharide, and in which the polysaccharide is substantially insoluble; and (f) harvesting the polysaccharide resulting from step (e) by separating it from the supernatant aqueous liquid.</p> |