Food and Nutrition

Food Nanotechnology

Submit Abstract Register Now

Nanotechnology can be defined as the design, characterisation, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at the nanometre scale. It covers a very wide range of activities, so it is probably more correct to refer to 'nanotechnologies’. Nanomaterial have been defined by the Royal Society as having one dimension less than 100 nanometres, but this is not a rigid definition and may change as the science evolves. There is increasing interest in the nanoscale because properties of such materials can be very different from those at the larger scale, and potentially very useful. This can be because materials have a  relatively larger surface area, which can make them more chemically reactive. Materials at this scale can also have different optical, electrical or magnetic behaviour. The types of material produced can be at the nanoscale in one dimension (very thin coatings), two dimensions (nanowires and nanotubes) or three dimensions (nanoparticles, such as very fine powder preparations). Nanotechnologies are not new – chemists have been making polymers based on nanoscale sub-units for many years and we are also exposed to nanoparticles in daily life (such as from vehicular exhaust emissions).In their widest sense, nanotechnology and nanomaterial’s are a natural part of food processing and conventional foods, because the characteristic properties of many foods rely on nanometre sized components (such as nanoemulsions and foams). However, recent technological developments lead the way for manufactured nanoparticles to be added to food. These could be finely divided forms of existing ingredients, or completely novel chemical structures.