Recovery and purification of biological products generally involve complicated processes that cost even up to 70% of final product price. Because of many commercial applications of glucoamylase, its innovative purification methods are still desired. In this paper, colloidal gas aphrons, generated with cationic and anionic surfactants at their critical micelle concentration (CIVIC), have been used to recover and purify glucoamylase enzyme from actual biomass produced by solid state fermentation. Three diverse separation methods (mixing, integrated and combined) were examined. In these tests, actual biomass samples, composed of a mixture of various proteins and enzymes, were used. Using aphron flotation, it was found that recovery of glucoamylase in a simultaneous glucoamylase extraction and recovery mode can be enhanced by using a cationic surfactant and a flocculation agent. The experimental results revealed that this innovative procedure is the most effective method in recovery and purifying glucoamylase. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.