Patent ID: 7722721

Claim:
A process of recovering galactose from a plant-based hemicellulose hydrolyzate solution containing a galactose content of at least 5% by weight, said process comprising (a) subjecting said solution to chromatographic fractionations, said chromatographic fractionations comprising one or more fractionations using a strongly basic anion exchange resin, wherein the anion is selected from SO 4 2− , SO 3 2− , HSO 3 − , CH 3 COO − , and one or more fractionations using a cation exchange resin, wherein the cation exchange resin is selected from strong or weak cation exchange resin; (b) recovering at least one fraction enriched in galactose, having a galactose content of 38 to 95% on RDS; (c) subjecting said at least one fraction enriched in galactose to crystallization; and (d) recovering a plant-based crystalline galactose product having a purity of more than 90% on DS.