Nano-Science-Engineering-Technology Applications to Food and Nutrition

Abstract

The potential benefits of nanotechnology have been recognized by many industrial sectors, and nanotechnology products are increasingly appearing in the world as consumer products. It has also wide application in the field of food: nano-sensors, smart packaging, nanoencapsulation and delivery of food compounds. Nanotechnology can be applied to the formulation of novel materials at nanoscale, as well as the development of new techniques for research to provide innovative systems. Nanotechnology is expected to open new opportunities in the field of science and technology.In the conference, the following 4 topics will be presented. Nakajima will present "Micro/Nano-Engineering for Formulation of Functional Foods". Health benefits related to functional lipids have been studied; however, most bioactives are water-insoluble, leading to low bioavailability and limiting food applications. The properties of bioactive foods can be controlled by their micro/nano-scale structure. Conventional preparations for bioactive foods are generally formulated by applying large-scale processing. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely control the structure of the products. Recently micro/nano engineering has been under development, as applied to bioactive foods. Emulsification is one of the important processes for food and other industries. Conventional emulsification equipment, such as the highpressure homogenizer, is used to produce emulsions. However, such obtained emulsions are polydispersed with a droplet diameter of 100 nm-100 mm. A new method for producing monodispersed emulsions using precisely-microfabricated microchannel (MC) arrays was proposed by Nakajima's group (1). MC emulsification is capable of producing monodispersed emulsions, which have been used to formulate the monodispersed microparticles and double emulsions. A nanochannel (NC) emulsification device has been also developed, in order to produce monodispersed sub-micron emulsions. Besides these micro/nano processing techniques, formulation and characterization of oil in water micro/nano emulsions or particles loaded with bioactives were studied, evaluating the physiochemical properties (2). In the presentation, the development of MC/NC emulsification, formulation and characterization of food nanoparticles and nanotechnology-based food will be discussed.Chaudhry will present "Applications and Implications of Nanotechnology for Food and Nutrition". The new developments in nanoscale sciences and technologies are promising to bring much innovation to the food sectors, and projected to revolutionize the food chain. Use of nano-sized ingredients in food products has raised concerns in regard to safety. Due to nanoscale dimensions and distinctive properties, the use of nanomaterials in food and health-food products poses a number of challenges, e.g. detection in food products, assessment of safety, and consumer acceptance. Chaudhry will discuss the known and projected applications of nanotechnology for food and related sectors, and will highlight the main challenges in r...

Development of solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers with phytosterols for food applications

“…Therefore, each carrier system for these compounds is characterized by specific properties (McClements, Decker, Park, & Weiss, 2009). In terms of bioactivity, the main functional lipophilic compounds are carotenoids, liposoluble antioxidants (tocopherols and polyphenols), liposoluble vitamins and phytosterols, which have been the focus of recent studies on nanotechnological applications (Mozafari, Flanagan, Matia-Merino, Awati, Omri, Suntres, & Singh, 2006;Huang, Yu, & Ru, 2010;Nakajima, Wang, Chaudhry, Park, & Juneja, 2015;.…”

“…Strategies for the use of nanotechnology in the food industry are differentiated, mainly in terms of preserving integrity and guaranteeing the functionality of bioactive compounds, as well as biosafety requirements. In this context, it is possible to obtain great benefits from the use of nanotechnology in several areas, for example in food safety for the detection of pathogens, in the development of packaging materials with biodegradable, antimicrobial and barrier properties, as well as edible films for surface coatings, nanosensors, new ingredients, additions, additives, food supplements, foods with functional properties, systems for transporting bioactive compounds and others (Chaudhry & Castle, 2011;Durán & Marcato, 2013;Wang, Chaudhry, Park, & Juneja, 2015).…”