A process for recovering a desired
organic acid from a solution includes the steps of: providing an
aqueous solution including at least one desired
organic acid or its
acid anion; adjusting the
proton concentration in the
aqueous solution to a desired level, with the desired
proton concentration being selected, at least in part, by the amount of available protons needed to associate with the acid anions of the desired
organic acid(s) to be recovered and / or acid anions that are weaker than the desired organic acids; and recovering at least a portion of the at least one desired organic acid from the aqueous phase. The desired
proton concentration can be based on the amount of available protons being greater than, less than or substantially equal, to the amount of protons needed to associate with the anion of the desired organic acid(s) and acid anions that are weaker than the desired organic acid(s).Specific examples of suitable organic acids include, but are not limited to, ascorbic, succinic, tartaric, glyconic, gulonic, citric, lactic, hialic, maleic, acetic, formic, gluconic pyruvic, propionic, butyric, itaconic acids and mixtures thereof. One embodiment of the present invention relates to the
recovery of 2-keto-L-
gulonic acid (KLG) from aqueous solutions such as
fermentation baths.