Evaluation of ultrafiltration performance for the purpose of isolation of clavulanic acid from fermentation broths was carried out using two tubular ceramic membranes with molecular weight cut-offs (MWCO) of 15 and 150 kDa and two flat sheet organic membranes with MWCO of 20 and 5 kDa in order to establish the sequence of operations needed to achieve a good phase separation when the permeates are subjected to solvent extraction. Ultrafiltration fluxes are higher for the 150 kDa membrane, but the quality of its permeate is not good enough for acceptable phase separation: so, for solid-liquid separation a further purification of its permeates using the 20 kDa membrane is required. The purification of the permeates of the membrane of 20 kDa using a membrane of 5 kDa was also investigated. This last operation did not brought any improvement to the process. Ultrafiltration experiments using either the membranes of 15 kDa or of 20 kDa directly for the solid liquid separation showed that a good performance is obtained for both membranes. High fluxes and high yields of antibiotic were obtained as well as a good phase separation when their permeates were subjected to solvent extraction.