36 Large-Scale Extraction of Proteins

Purification of proteins using aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) has been successfully carried out on large scale for more than a decade (1 –17 ). One of the major advantages of ATPS is that the scaling up is possible through the use of conventional extraction equipment used for organic-aqueous extraction in chemical industry. The large-scale application of ATPS is mainly limited by the theoretical understanding of phase equilibrium and protein partitioning, the selectivity of these systems and cost of the polymers (18 –22 ) the possibility to recycle the polymers must also be considered (22 –24 ).