Nanotechnology Applications in Food and Food Processing: Innovative Green Approaches, Opportunities and Uncertainties for Global Market

Nanoscience and nanotechnology are new frontiers of this century and food nanotechnology is an emerging technology. Their applications to the agriculture and food sector are relatively recent compared with their use in drug delivery and pharmaceuticals. Many scientists and engineers have recognized well the potential of nanotechnology to lead all the food industries in the 21st century. Even though successful applications of nanotechnology to foods are still limited, some basic concepts based on nanoscale have been established well. In food engineering field, two major applications related to nanotechnology, that is, food nanosensing and food nanostructured ingredients are being expected. In the former field, better food quality and safety evaluation can be achieved by using nanotechnology. Advances in technologies, such as DNA microarrays, microelectromechanical systems, and microfluidics, will enable the realization of the potential of nanotechnology for food applications. In the latter, food processing can be largely improved in the aspects of smart delivery of nutrients, bioseparation of proteins, rapid sampling of biological and chemical contaminants, nanoencapsulation of nutraceuticals, solubilization, delivery, and color in food systems; these being some of the emerging topics of nanotechnology for food and agriculture. Meanwhile, food nanotechnology as a new technology is requiring reviews of potentially adverse effects as well as many positive effects. In this review, we intended to cover some of the developments in nanotechnology and their applicability to food and nutraceuticals systems. It presents some of the nanoscale-sized structures that are uniquely relevant to the food industry, the different food manufacturing techniques that could benefit from nanotechnology, and nanotechnology's applicability to the formulation and storage of food, together with identifying the outstanding challenges.