Albania

At the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food, Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania, the participating team carries out teaching and research activities in the areas of Food Technology, Oenology-Viticulture, Quality and Food Safety, Food Analysis oriented to the needs of the food technology sector in order to innovate and improve the quality, safety and nutritional value of various foods and beverages, also in accordance with the needs of the country, based on the directions of the national sector strategies. The laboratory infrastructure has been developed to support scientific research activities closely related to academic activities and implementation of national and international projects in food sciences, especially in the field of fruits and vegetables and their products, medicinal plants, enology and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, vegetable oils, milk and dairy products, cereals and their by-products, microbiological, physicochemical and sensory analysis of foods. Available instruments include UV/vis spectrophotometers, conductometers, turbidimeters, colorimeters, water activity meters, ELISA system, etc. In addition, the group has a pilot line for automated processing of milk
and dairy products (a dedicated line for cheese production), and production of wine and other grape processing by-products is available.