In this study, electro-membrane reactors were developed for the cleaner production and in situ separation of monosodium L-glutamate (NaGA) from ammonium glutamate (NH(4)GA) solution. The process performances were compared both before and after the addition of resins to the compartments of the reactors. The recovery rate of the resin-filled electro-membrane reactor in which all of the compartments were filled with resins was higher than that of the other reactors, while the reaction time and energy consumption were relatively low. Additionally, the effects of the current density, the initial concentration and the volumetric ratio of product solution and feed solution on the performance of the resin-filled reactor were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, 94.15% of the glutamate was successfully recovered, and the glutamate migration rate and energy consumption were 3.132 mol/(m(2) h) and 0.920 kWh/kg NaGA, respectively. The final concentration of NaGA reached 0.603 mol/L. The resin-filled electro-membrane reactor provides a novel, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient method for the production of NaGA. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.