Continuous production of sialyllactose from colominic acid using a membrane reactor

Continuous production of sialyllactose, as a typical sialylsaccharide, was examined using a membrane reactor. The synthesis of sialyllactose through the transfer reaction catalyzed by neuraminidase, has been reported to be a suitable process for industrial production, but it still has drawbacks such as a low yield, high enzyme cost, and hydrolysis by the enzyme of sialyllactose formed. We attempted to solve these problems by utilizing an appropriate membrane reactor system. We first investigated the effects of various reaction conditions on sialyllactose productivity, and found that the productivity was independent of the enzyme concentration and reaction temperature but dependent on the substrate and buffer concentrations and the hydraulic retention time (HRT). We then selected a suitable membrane that allowed sialyllactose to permeate but rejected the substrate and enzyme. Finally, we constructed a membrane reactor system with a cut-off molecular weight of 3000 and applied it to continuous sialyllactose production from colominic acid at an HRT of 80 min. Using substrate concentration of 25 g/l the system performed with a high level of productivity and gave a good yield, while maintaining high transfer ratio of 4-5% over a 160-h test period.