Abstract
The main drawbacks of 3-step tedious and cumbersome downstream
processing of biomolecules includes complex procedural steps, production of
excessive amount of by-products, huge amount of energy consumption and inefficient
with respect to purity, yield and selectivity. In order to overcome
the limitations of downstream processing, aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) have
been applied as alternative, competent and environmentally benign approach (free of
toxic organic solvents) for the separation and refinement of biomolecules from varying matrixes. ATPS method has the inherent properties such as versatility, highly productive,
economical, better purity profile, selectivity and rapid mass transfer rates. It has achieved the position of leading technique in the last decade for
separation and purification of enzymes, drugs,
antioxidants, amino acids and antibiotics. These
systems are usually formed by chemical entities that segregate into two
different phases when mixed in specific ranges of composition and temperature
e.g. by either mixing two
polymers in aqueous media or by a polymer with an inorganic salt or a polymer with an organic salt