CRAB – Consorzio di Ricerche Applicate alla Biotecnologia

Address:  Via Sandro Pertini, 106 AVEZZANO
Postcode:  67051 AVEZZANO - (ITALY)
T. (+39) 0863.412296/412105 – F. (+39) 0863.412300
E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web:  www.crab.abruzzo.it/

AD-Wine CRAB

(Consortium of Applied Researches in Biotechnology) is a no profit private institution, designed to promote cooperation between research and industry and to promote and support SMEs in processes and products innovation of the agro-industrial field. Its main activities are:
• Biotechnological products and processes development and optimization in agro-industry, food-industry, environmental and pharmaceutical fields. Provision of chemical, biochemical and microbiological analysis in agro-industry, food-industry, environmental and pharmaceutical fields. Production of microorganisms, vitamins and proteins from natural sources.
• Training In particular CRAB is able to:
• develop, design and optimize bio-processes and bio-products including advanced processes based on animal and plant cell cultivation
• develop, design and optimize clean technologies as well as processes and plants for treatment and purification of solid, liquid and gas wastes and for recovery of industrial by-products
• analyze raw materials and industry-agriculture products as well as civil and industrial wastes
• provide services for security and quality of work places
• produce and purify biological material including starters, inoculation, micro-organisms and proteins
• provide general and specific technical consultation
• supply multi-client research
• organize qualified courses for technicians and teachers, workshops for students, graduate and post-graduate courses

Main facilities
- Processes Engineering
The Laboratory consists of a Variable Configuration Multipurpose Pilot Plant housed in a 2,590 m2 building and includes several Operative Units, that can be linked in several ways to simulate any process in agro-industry field. These Units are:
• Bioreactors (stirred tank, fixed bed and hollow fiber)
• Membranes filtration plant ( MF, UF, NF, RO) and/or traditional
• Supercritical extraction plant
• Distillation plant
• Dehydration plants (spray-dryer and vacuum freeze dryer)
• Centrifugation plant
• Full milk processing plant
• Chromatographic separation units
• Homogenization unit
• Clean room (100 m2 class 100 SED STD)
• Freezer rooms
• Utilities plant (process water storage and distribution plant, demineralized water plant, chilled water plant, steam generation plant, compressed air station, waste water treatment plant, etc.)
- Analytical qualitative and quantitative control

Chemical and biological laboratories (600 m2) include modern equipment for characterization of raw materials and bio-transformation products and for validation of food products. In addition to traditional equipment required for analysis of agro-industrial products.They include several sophisticated device, like:
• Gas chromatography (TCD, FID) and Mass Spectrophotometer (MSD)
• HPLC • Electrophoresis system
• Atomic absorption spectrophotometer
• UV/VIS spectrophotometers
• 100.000 rpm ultracentrifuge
• Particle counter
• PCR

- Microbial strains maintenance
In CRAB are present approximately 150 microbial strains, found by CRAB by the purchase of the same ones from the greater existing Collections of biological material (like the ATCC, the DSMZ, the BCS) as well as by native selection: the maintenance conditions are fresh, frozen-dry and frozen.

Main projects developed
• New products and processes in dairy industry.Financers: Abruzzo Region, ended in1997
• Development of wine-based new beverages characterized by low alcohol contents by means of supercritical CO2 extraction. Financers: ARSSA, ended in 1999
• New agro-industrial processes and products: a) Juices, powders and extracts (W1); b) Biological active soil ammendants and fertilizers; c) Food and animal food integrators development and validation. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2003
• Wastes Biomass: sustainable recovery advanced procedures. Financers: Plants Nutrition Experimental Institute, ended in 2004
• Fucino water quality evaluation finalized to irrigation and analysis of compounds influencing water quality – microbial screening. Financers: ARSSA, ended in 2005
• Bakery products with special nutrient characteristics. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2005
• Bioactivators production for agro-environmental application. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2004
• Methods and integrated systems for Fucino vegetables high quality products. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2005
• Safeguard of halzenut and almond genetic resources: form traditional use to novel agroindustrial opportunities: Financers: UE- AGRI GEN RES, ended in 2009
• Biological resources valorization: development of new technologies for identification, molecule characterization and production of druggist and industrial interest in Brassicacee. Financers: Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2010
• Supply and quality of livestock production. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2011
• Processes and products optimization technologies oriented to improve quality and food safety. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2011
• Valorization of production surplus, by-products and wastes. Financers: Ministry of Instruction, University and Research, ended in 2011
• Creating innovative business incubators in biotechnology. Financers: Ministry of Productive Activities, ended in 2011