Facets of Nanotechnology as Seen in Food Processing, Packaging, and Preservation Industry

Figure 2

Different types of nanomaterials used in food management. (a) Liposomes (~100–400 nm) are small spherical artificial vesicles typically made with lipid bilayers. (b) Nanoparticles (~20–200 nm) are typically made with biodegradable polymers for sustained drug or antioxidants release. (c) Nanocapsules (~10–1000 nm) can encapsulate relatively large amounts of drugs and nucleic acids such as DNA, microRNA, siRNA, and shRNA. (d) Micelles (~10–100 nm) are self-assembled amphiphilic particles that can encapsulate both lipophilic or lipophobic drugs stabilized by surfactants. (e) Dendrimers (~3–20 nm) are mono-disperse macromolecules that can be used to encapsulate or covalently conjugate drugs, targeting moieties and imaging agents. (f) Nanoconjugates are polymers to which drug molecules are covalently conjugated [19].

(a) Liposomes

(b) Nanosphere

(c) Nanocapsule

(d) Micelles

(e) Dendrimer

(f) Nanoconjugate and linear polymers