Emerging Technologies

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Nanofood
Any food substance created by the empl oyment of
nanotechnological techniques in any part of the food chain
i.e. cul tiv ation, production, processing or packaging .
[22]
Food processing w ith nanotechnology is al ready making an impact
w ith nanoparticles and nanocapsules b eing added to v arious
foodstuff to increase their shel f l ife, al ter properties, enhance
nutritional v alue and change taste.
Food packaging w ith the use of nanotechnology is al so a
commonplace real ity and can be separated into tw o types: activ e
packaging and smart packaging. Activ e packaging incl udes
materials that constant ly prov ide a certain feature l ike stopping
oxygen from spoil ing food. Smart packaging reacts to changes in
the env ironment such as to indicate the presence of a pathogen. [ 2 3 ]
Incorporation of bioactiv e compounds such as v itam ins, probiotics,
bioactiv e peptides, and antioxidants into Nutrient Del iv ery System
(NDS) for 'nanofood' prov ides simpl e w ay to dev elop nov el
functional foods that may hav e physiol ogical benefits or reduce
risks of diseases.
Future of Nanofood
Tomorrow , food w ill be designed by shaping
atoms and mol ecules. Nanoscale biotech
and bioinformatics w il l hav e a big impact
on food and food processing industries.
Crop DNS decoding and anal ysing will
enabl e the industries to predict, control
and Improv e agricul tur al production,
design food w ith much more capability,
precision, l ow er costs and sustainabil ity.