Process for the isolation and purification of mevinolin

A process for obtaining mevinolin by culturing a fungal culture medium of one or more of an Aspergillus terreus, and Aspergillus obscurus strain, the culture medium containing assimilable sources of carbon, nitrogen and inorganic substances at conditions suitable for the production of mevinolin, consisting essentially of the following steps,

• (a) adjusting the pH of the culture medium to between about 7.5 and about 10 to dissolve mevinolin from the fungal culture medium of the said Aspergillus strain into the fermentation liquor,
• (b) separating the fungal culture medium from the said Aspergillus strain to obtain a separated fermentation liquor,
• (c) adjusting the pH of the separated culture medium to between about 4.5 and about 1, and
• (d) recovering the mevinolin product.