Natamycin recovery

A process for the recovery of solid natamycin from an aqueous fermentation broth comprising the steps a) to c) in the following order:

• a) culturing a natamycin producing microorganism in an aqueous fermentation broth to produce at least 2 g/l of solid natamycin in particle form, wherein the aqueous fermentation broth comprises the solid natamycin particles and the biomass of the cultured microorganism;
• b) treating the aqueous fermentation broth containing at least 2 g/l of solid natamycin to disintegrate the biomass therein into biomass particles smaller than the natamycin particles or having a lower density than the natamycin particles, wherein the difference in size or density between the disintegrated particles and the natamycin particles is sufficient to separate the natamycin and biomass particles from each other by a gravity gradient separation technique while maintaining aqueous conditions, and then
• c) separating solid natamycin from both the aqueous fermentation broth and the disintegrated biomass by using a gravity gradient separation technique to obtain an aqueous natamycin suspension, and recovering solid natamycin therefrom.