The Laboratory owns the appropriate equipment, infrastructure and experience to perform a series of chemical, microbiological and molecular analyses.

Specifically, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer (GC/MS), gas chromatograph (GC / FID), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), freeze-dryer, spectrophotometer, PCR and DGGE apparatuses, microbiological laminar flow chambers, incubators, water activity (aw) instrument, water baths, pH meters and other equipment is available..

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Given that the field of Agri-food and Circular Bioeconomy represents a revolutionary area of study, the Laboratory of Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology of the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Democritus University of Thrace focuses on:
•The isolation, identification, and evaluation of the technological characteristics and health-promoting properties of new wild-type microorganisms;
•The utilization of microbial strains of Greek origin as starter cultures for the food industry, suitable for the production of final products with distinct quality characteristics;
•The design and development of bioprocesses, as well as functional ingredients and foods with potential health benefits, such as probiotics and prebiotics, natural products with beneficial properties, nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, etc;
•The assessment of the quality and nutritional value of new foods or foods produced through innovative processes;
•The study of the microbiome of complex microbial communities in various ecosystems; and
•The production of high added-value products through the valorization of agri-food industry by-products.

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The Laboratory of Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology offers the following services:
•Study of food safety and quality (microbiological analyses, pathogen screening, determination of acidity, sugars, organic fatty acids and alcohols, profile of volatiles in foods, etc)
•Determination of the chemical composition of natural products
•Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of natural products for potential use as bio-preservatives
•Detection and quantitative determination of pesticides and toxins in food products
•Isolation, identification, and characterization of indigenous yeasts and malolactic bacteria from Greek vineyards and assessment of technological characteristics
•Isolation, identification, and assessment of technological characteristics and health-promoting properties of novel microbial strains
•Design and development of innovative functional food products
•Optimization of microbial cultures production processes
•Workshops on basic and advanced chromatography methodologies for food analysis .

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