BACKGROUNDA laboratory-scale protocol for the production, primary recovery and partial purification of fucoxanthin via biomass production at low light intensities was previously reported. This proposed approach exploited the use of ethanol salt aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) and ultrafiltration (UF) to deliver a 45% total recovery yield if all steps were implemented in a bioprocess. In this study, practical experiences derived from the bench-scale implementation of the previously characterized lab protocol are presented. RESULTSAfter implementation of the process, a 47.5% fucoxanthin recovery was obtained, while 87.2% of the contaminant proteins were removed. CONCLUSIONThe findings reported here provide the required guidelines to facilitate process scale-up for the potential commercial production and recovery of fucoxanthin. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry