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BY
TONI TARVER
Potential Food Applications
All organisms represent a consolida-tion o various nanoscale-size objects.Atoms and molecules combine toorm dynamic structures and systemsthat are the building blocks o everyorganism’s existence. For humans,cell membranes, hormones, and DNAare examples o vital structures thatmeasure in the nanometer range. Inact, every living organism on earthexists because o the presence andinteraction o various nanostructures.Even ood molecules such as carbohy-drates, proteins, and ats are the resultso nanoscale-level mergers betweensugars, amino acids, and atty acids.As it applies to the ood industry,nanotechnology involves using bio-logical molecules such as sugars orproteins as target-recognition groupsor nanostructures that could be used,or example, as biosensors on oods(Charych et al., 1996). Such biosen-sors could serve as detectors o oodpathogens and other contaminantsand as devices to track ood products.Nanotechnology may also be useul inencapsulation systems or protectionagainst environmental actors. Inaddition, it can be used in the designo ood ingredients such as avors andantioxidants (Imadon and Spanier,1994). The goal is to improve theunctionality o such ingredients whileminimizing their concentration. Asthe inusion o novel ingredients intooods gains popularity (Haruyama,2003), greater exploration o deliveryand controlled-release systems ornutraceuticals will occur (Lawrenceand Rees, 2000).Although nanotechnology canpotentially be useul in all areas o ood production and processing,many o the methods are eithertoo expensive or too impractical toimplement on a commercial scale.For this reason, nanoscale techniquesare most cost-eective in the ollow-ing areas o the ood industry: devel-opment o new unctional materials,ood ormulations, ood processingat microscale and nanoscale levels,product development, and storage.The Scientic Status Summaryocuses on the nanoscale applicationswithin these areas that have a greaterchance o commercial viability nowand in the near uture.
Nanodispersions and Nanocapsules
As the undamental components o oods, unctional ingredients suchas vitamins, antimicrobials, antioxi-dants, avorings, and preservativescome in various molecular and physi-cal orms. Because they are rarelyused in their purest orm, unctionalingredients are usually part o adelivery system.A delivery system has numerousunctions, only one o which is totransport a unctional ingredient toits desired site. Besides being com-patible with ood product attributessuch as taste, texture, and shel lie,other unctions o a delivery systeminclude protecting an ingredientrom chemical or biological degrada-tion, such as oxidation, and control-ling the unctional ingredient’s rateo release under specic environ-mental conditions. Because they caneectively perorm all these tasks,nanodispersions and nanocapsulesare ideal mechanisms or delivery o unctional ingredients. These typeso nanostructures include associa-tion colloids, nanoemulsions, and biopolymeric nanoparticles.•
Association Colloids.
 Suractant micelles, vesicles, bilay-ers, reverse micelles, and liquidcrystals are all examples o associa-tion colloids. A
colloid 
is a stable sys-tem o a substance containing smallparticles dispersed throughout. An
association colloid 
is a colloid whoseparticles are made up o even smallermolecules.Used or many years to deliverpolar, nonpolar, and amphiphilicunctional ingredients (Goldingand Sein, 2004; Garti et al., 2004,2005; Flanagan and Singh, 2006),association colloids range in sizerom 5 nm to 100 nm and are usuallytransparent solutions. The major dis-advantages to association colloids arethat they may compromise the avoro the ingredients and can spontane-ously dissociate i diluted.•
Nanoemulsions.
An
emul-sion
is a mixture o two or moreliquids (such as oil and water) thatdo not easily combine. Thereore,a nanoemulsion is an emulsion inwhich the diameters o the dispersed
A
t one-billionth o a meter, ananometer is miniscule—much too small or the humaneye to see. And or most humans,anything measuring 100 nm or lessmay be impossible to comprehendas signicant. For this reason, itwould seem illogical that structuresmeasuring 1–100 nm would notonly exist but would also haveimplications and applications thatcould be essential to humankind.
Nonetheless, scientists haveembarked on a eld o science thatcould literally t on a person’sngernail: nanotechnology. Aderivative o chemistry, engineer-ing, physics, and microabricationtechniques, nanotechnology involvesmanipulating matter at the nanoscalelevel. It is responsible or determin-ing not only that biological andnonbiological structures measuringless than 100 nm exist but alsothat they have unique and novelunctional applications. In act, theNational Nanotechnology Initiative(NNI, 2006) denes nanotechnologyas “the understanding and control o matter at dimensions o roughly 1 to100 nanometers, where unique phe-nomena enable novel applications.”Because applications with struc-tural eatures on the nanoscale levelhave physical, chemical, and biologi-cal properties that are substantiallydierent rom their macroscopiccounterparts, nanotechnology can be benecial on various levels. Researchin biology, chemistry, engineering,and physics drives the developmentand exploration o the nanotechnologyeld. Consequently, certain industriessuch as microelectronics, aerospace,and pharmaceuticals have already begun manuacturing commercialproducts o nanoscale size. Eventhough the ood industry is just begin-ning to explore its applications, nano-technology exhibits great potential.Food undergoes a variety o postharvest and processing-inducedmodications that aect its bio-logical and biochemical makeup, sonanotechnology developments in theelds o biology and biochemistrycould eventually also inuence theood industry. Ideally, systems withstructural eatures in the nanometer-length range could aect aspectsrom ood saety to molecular syn-thesis (Chen et al., 2006).A new Scientic Status Summaryissued by the Institute o FoodTechnologists covers some o thedevelopments in nanotechnol-ogy and their applicability toood systems. Written by JochenWeiss, Paul Takhistov, and D. Julian McClements, the Summary,“Functional Materials in FoodNanotechnology,” presents someo the nanoscale-sized structuresthat are uniquely relevant to theood industry, the dierent ood-manuacturing techniques that could benet rom nanotechnology, andnanotechnology’s applicability tothe ormulation and storage o ood.This article presents a synopsis o theScientic Status Summary.
SCIENTIFIC STATUS SUMMARY
synopsis
The
Institute of Food Technologists
has issued a Scientic Status Summary on potentialapplications of nanotechnology in the food industry. Here’s a synopsis.
Food 
Nanotec hnology
View down the middle 
of a boron nitride nanotube.
ImagecopyrightVinCrespi,PennStatePhysics.DistributedundertheCreativeCommonslicense(www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/good-bye?http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)
Scientic Status Summary Online
The IFT Scientifc Status Summary, “FunctionalMaterials in Food Nanotechnology,” appears in theNovember/December 2006 issue o 
 Journal of FoodScience
and is also available online at www.it.org.
The Scientic Status Summary was written by
 JochenWeiss
, Ph.D., a Proessional Member o IFT andAssistant Proessor, Dept. o Food Science, University o Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (jweiss1@oodsci.umass.edu);
Paul Takhistov
, Ph.D., a Member o IFTand Associate Proessor, Dept. o Food Science, RutgersUniversity, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (takhistov@aesop.rutgers.edu); and
D. Julian McClements
, Ph.D.,a Proessional Member o IFT and Proessor, Dept. o Food Science, University o Massachusetts, Amherst,MA 01003 (mcclements@oodsci.umass.edu).
 
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droplets measure 500 nm or less.Nanoemulsions can encapsulateunctional ingredients within theirdroplets, which can acilitate areduction in chemical degradation(McClements and Decker, 2000).In act, dierent types o nanoemul-sions with more-complex proper-ties—such as nanostructured mul-tiple emulsions or nanostructuredmultilayer emulsions—oer mul-tiple encapsulating abilities rom asingle delivery system that can carryseveral unctional components. Instructures such as these, a unctionalcomponent encased within one com-ponent o a multiple emulsion systemcould be released in response to aspecic environmental trigger.•
Biopolymeric Nanoparticles.
 Food-grade biopolymers such as pro-teins or polysaccharides can be usedto produce nanometer-sized particles(Chang and Chen, 2005; Gupta andGupta, 2005; Ritzoulis et al., 2005).Using aggregative (net attraction) orsegregative (net repulsion) interac-tions, a single biopolymer separatesinto smaller nanoparticles. Thenanoparticles can then be used toencapsulate unctional ingredientsand release them in response to dis-tinct environmental triggers.One o the most common com-ponents o many biodegradable bio-polymeric nanoparticles is polylacticacid (PLA). Widely available roma number o manuacturers, PLA isoten used to encapsulate and deliverdrugs, vaccines, and proteins, but ithas limitations: it is quickly removedrom the bloodstream, remainingisolated in the liver and kidneys.Because its purpose as a nanoparticleis to deliver active components toother areas o the body, PLA needsan associative compound such aspolyethylene glycol to be successulin this regard (Riley et al., 1999).
Nanolaminates
Besides nanodispersions andnanocapsules, another nanoscaletechnique is commercially viable orthe ood industry: nanolaminates.Consisting o two or more layers o material with nanometer dimen-sions, a nanolaminate is an extremelythin ood-grade lm (1–100 nm/layer) that has physically bonded orchemically bonded dimensions.Because o its advantages in thepreparation o edible lms, a nano-laminate has a number o importantood-industry applications. Ediblelms are present on a wide varietyo oods: ruits, vegetables, meats,chocolate, candies, baked goods, andFrench ries (Morillon, 2002; Cagriet al., 2004; Cha and Chinnan,2004; Rhim, 2004). Such lmsprotect oods rom moisture, lipids,and gases, or they can improve thetextural properties o oods andserve as carriers o colors, avors,antioxidants, nutrients, and anti-microbials.Currently, edible nanolaminatesare constructed rom polysaccha-rides, proteins, and lipids. Althoughpolysaccharide- and protein-basedlms are good barriers against oxygenand carbon dioxide, they are poor atprotecting against moisture. On theother hand, lipid-based nanolaminatesare good at protecting ood rommoisture, but they oer limitedresistance to gases and have poormechanical strength (Park, 1999).Because neither polysaccharides,proteins, or lipids provide all o thedesired properties in an edible coat-ing, researchers are trying to identiyadditives that can improve them, suchas polyols. For now, coating oodswith nanolaminates involves eitherdipping them into a series o solutionscontaining substances that wouldadsorb to a ood’s surace or sprayingsubstances onto the ood surace(McClements et al., 2005).While there are various methodsthat can cause adsorption, it is com-monly a result o an electrostaticattraction between substances thathave opposite charges. The degreeo a substance’s adsorption dependson the nature o the ood’s suraceas well as the nature o the adsorb-ing substance. Dierent adsorbingsubstances can constitute dierentlayers o a nanolaminate; examplesare polyelectrolytes (proteins andpolysaccharides), charged lipids, andcolloidal particles. Consequently,dierent nanolaminates could includevarious unctional agents such asantimicrobials, anti-browning agents,antioxidants, enzymes, avors, andcolors.
Nanobers and Nanotubes
Two applications o nanotechnologythat are in the early stages o havingan impact on the ood industry arenanobers and nanotubes. Becausenanobers are usually not composedo ood-grade substances, nanobershave only a ew potential applicationsin the ood industry.Produced by a manuacturingtechnique using electrostatic orce,nanobers have small diameters rang-ing in size rom 10 nm to 1,000 nm,which makes them ideal or servingas a platorm or bacterial cultures. Inaddition, nanobers could also serveas the structural matrix or articialoods and environmentally riendlyood-packaging material. As advancescontinue in the area o producingnanobers rom ood-grade materi-als, their use will likely increase.As with nanobers, the use o nanotubes has predominantly beenor non-ood applications. Carbonnanotubes are popularly used as low-resistance conductors and catalyticreaction vessels. Under appropriateenvironmental conditions, however,certain globular milk proteinscan sel-assemble into similarlystructured nanotubes (Graveland-Bikker and de Krui, 2005, 2006;Graveland-Bikker et al., 2006a, b).
Regulations
In the United States, no specialregulations exist or the use o nanotechnology in the ood industry.In contrast, the European Unionhas recommended special regula-tions that have yet to be acceptedand enorced. The Food and DrugAdministration says that it regu-lates “products, not technologies.”Nevertheless, FDA expects thatmany products o nanotechnologywill come under the jurisdiction o many o its centers; thus, the Ofceo Combination Products will likelyabsorb any relevant responsibilities.Because FDA regulates on a prod-uct-by-product basis, it emphasizesthat many products that are alreadyunder regulation contain particlesin the nanoscale range. Accordingly,“particle size is not the issue,” and anynew materials will be subjected tothe customary battery o saety tests.The Institute o Food Scienceand Technology, a United Kingdom– based independent proessional bodyor ood scientists and technologists,has a dierent view o nanotechnol-ogy. In its report (IFST, 2006), theorganization says that size mattersand recommends that nanoparticles be treated as potentially harmuluntil testing proves otherwise. Still,
Food 
Nanotechnology
 Application matrix 
of nanotechnology in food science and technology.
Heat/mass transferNanoscale reactionengineeringNanobiotechnologyMolecular synthesisNanosensorsNanotracersNanoparticlesNanoemulsionsNanocompositesNanostructured materialsFormulationDeliveryPackaging
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Food Science & Technology
Separate oil & water
 Add emulsifier 
Primary emulsionSecondary emulsion
 Add biopolymer 
Single layer Two layers
Formation
of a number of nanolayers around particles.
 
More About Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology has also been the subject o other articles in
Food Technology.
Baeumner, A. 2004. Nanosensors identiy pathogens in ood. FoodTechnol. 58(8): 51-52, 54-55.Batt, C.A. 2002. Realizing the potential o nanobiotechnology. InMermelstein (2002), 31-32.Brody, A.L. 2003. “Nano, nano” ood packaging technology. FoodTechnol. 57(12): 52-54.Brody, A.L. 2006a. Nano and ood packaging technologies converge.Food Technol. 60(3): 92-94.Brody, A.L. 2006b. Food packaging climbs to the summit. FoodTechnol. 60(7): 73-75.Chen, H., Weiss, J., and Shahidi, F. 2006. Nanotechnology in nutra-ceuticals and unctional oods. Food Technol. 60(3): 30-32, 34-36.Clark, J.P. 2006. Nanotechnology a processing topic this year. FoodTechnol. 60(5): 135-140.Kokini, J.F. 2002. Revolutionizing ood engineering. In Mermelstein(2002), p. 47.Mermelstein, N.H. 2002. Food research trends—2003 and beyond.Food Technol. 56(12): 30-32, 34, 36-49.Moraru, C.I., Panchapakesan, C.P., Huang, Q., Takhistov, P., Liu,S., and Kokini, J.L. 2003. Nanotechnology: A new rontier in oodscience. Food Technol. 7(12): 24-29.Rudolph, M.J. 2004. Cross-industry technology transer. FoodTechnol. 58(1): 32-34, 41.Sheer, A. and Sheer, S. 2003. Novel encapsulation system providescontrolled release o ingredients. Food Technol. 57(11): 40-42.
SCIENTIFIC STATUS SUMMARY
synopsis
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