Hyaluronic acid from bacterial culture

A method of producing hyaluronic acid comprising:

• growing a culture of hyaluronic acid-producing streptococcus bacteria in a growth medium under CO.sub.2 -enriched anaerobic conditions;
• forming a liquid suspension of the bacteria and its by-products in the case where the formation of such a suspension is not inherent in the growth method being used;
• separating the bacterial cells from the suspension;
• and
• isolating the hyaluronic acid from the constituents of the remaining liquid by separating the acid and those broth constituents of similar or higher molecular weight and then separating the acid from those similar broth constituents by precipitation.

A method of producing hyaluronic acid comprising:

• growing a culture of acid-producing streptococcus bacteria under CO.sub.2 -enriched anaerobic conditions on a solid growth medium;
• forming a liquid suspension of the bacteria and its by-products to separate same from the solid medium,
• separating the bacterial cells from the suspension;
• and
• isolating the hyaluronic acid from the constituents of the remaining liquid by separating the acid and those liquid constituents of similar or higher molecular weight from the liquid suspension and then separating the acid from those similar constituents.

A method of producing hyaluronic acid comprising:

• providing hyaluronic acid-producing streptococcus bacteria;
• combining the bacteria with a growth medium whereby the bacteria produces by-products including hyaluronic acid;
• maintaining CO.sub.2 -enriched anaerobic conditions in the environment of the growth medium;
• forming a liquid suspension of the bacteria and its by-products in the case where the formation of such a suspension is not inherent in the growth method and medium being used;
• separating the bacteria from the suspension;
• and
• isolating the hyaluronic acid from the constituents of the remaining liquid by separating the acid and those liquid constituents of similar or higher molecular weight from the liquid suspension and then separating the acid from those similar constituents.