B.E.

Semester – VII
Nanotechnology and Surface Engineering (3171931)

 1.9 NANOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD AND

AGRICULTURE
URL for 1. Introduction to Nano sensors
brief study :- 2. Nano sensor Fabrication
3. NANOSENSORS™ Special Developments
4. Nano sensors in Medicine

Lecture Scheduled on 4th August 2022 [2:10 PM to 3:10 PM]

Prepared By :- Prof. H. N. Patel (GECV Mech.)
Introduction
Why?
Nanotechnology has great promise in addressing many of the

pressing needs in the food and agriculture sectors.

How?
Nanotechnology improves current agri-food practices by

opening new avenues of food production, manufacturing and

packaging, plant cropping and animal production and
fisheries, making the food and agriculture industry the most
important fields of nanotechnology application.
Introduction
 Nanotechnology impact on food
safety
 Food safety implies biological, detrimental, and chemical
factors.

 Food safety can be quantitatively assessed by various

methods, including cell culture and fine instrumental
analysis.
 Nanotechnology impact on food
safety
 Methods for food safety assessment require analytical time
ranging from several hours to days, usually with different
pretreatment steps.

 Nanospectroscopic methods (IR, Raman and SERS) present

very powerful alternative to the existing methods.
Applications
 Nanotechnology holds major implications in food and
agriculture industry and it is multidisciplinary in
nature
Applications
 Agri-food nanotechnology - applied research field
emerged from nanoparticles and nanotechnology
aspects applied in agriculture to boost crop, livestock
and food productivity.

 It offers the tools to understand and transform

biosystems and various solutions to agriculture and
food industry in the sense of sensing and controling,
diagnostics and treatment, food preparation and
conservation, etc.
Applications
 Agri-food nanotechnology enables new nanoscale
materials and processes, green manufacturing,
development platforms as well as promise of
sustainable development in long term.
Applications
 Merging nanodevices and Internet creates a new
paradigm, Internet of Nano Things (IoNT), which holds
the potential to create a completely smart IoNT-driven
agriculture.

 With the help of IoNT, various parameters along whole

food chain can be monitored in a real-time, such as soil
and crop conditions monitoring as well as perform food
traceability from production, transportation to food
shells.  
Applications
 Nanotechnology in plant and
livestock production
 Nanoparticles and targeted delivery nanoformulations are
broadly used for agrochemicals (nanopesticides,
nanofertilizers), and as vectors for gene transport.
Nanotechnology in plant and
livestock production
 Some of the current applications of
nanotechnologies in plant and livestocok
production:
 Nanosensors for monitoring soil conditions,
pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides,
pathogens and crop growth as well,
 Nanosensors for detection of food-borne
contaminants or for monitoring environmental
conditions at the farm,
Nanotechnology in plant and
livestock production
 Some of the current applications of
nanotechnologies in in plant and livestocok
production:
 Nanochips for identity preservation and tracking,
 Nano capsules for delivery of pesticides, herbicides,
fertilizers and vaccines that allow the dosage
reducement and ensure controlled slow delivery to
plants,
 Bio-nano sensors to detect metabolites like lactate,
glucose and ATP within animals
Nanotechnology in plant and
livestock production
 Some of the current applications of
nanotechnologies in in plant and
livestock production:
 Aptasensors for determination of antibiotics, drugs
and their residues (e.g. cocaine, oxytetracycline,
tetracycline, kanamycin),

 Aptasensors for determination of heavy metals (e.g.

Hg2+, As3+, Cu2+).
Nanotechnology in food production

 Nanotechnology plays a key role in achieving safe and

quality food products, through detecting pathogens and
contaminants by using nanosensors and indicators,
encapsulating nutrients and developing new functional
products.
Nanotechnology in food production

 Applications of nanotechnology in food production:

 Nanotechnology-based tracing for detection of the
presence of pathogens, spoilage microorganisms,
allergens, chemicals and other contaminants in food as
well as nutritional information,

 Nano encapsulated flavor enhancers,

 Aptasensors for determination of microbial toxins (e.g.

OTA, Fumonisin B1)
Nano spectroscopy in food processing

 Raman spectrometry has great potential in food

applications (monitoring and quality control in industrial
food processing, food safety etc.).

 Advantages of Raman spectroscopy over other analytical

methods applied in food analysis are short analysis time
and ability to probe water-rich samples.

 Main disadvantages are poor signal and very strong

fluorescence signal which can overlap with Raman signal.
Nanospectroscopy in food processing

 Applications:
 monitoring of food processes and fermentation,

 heating and oxidation of edible oils,

 processing and preservation of meat,

 determination of food contaminants.  

Nano spectroscopy in food processing

 Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS)

techniques have been applied in food analysis as a
rapid and sensitive tool for the detection of food
contaminants and as a diagnostic tool for foodborne
microorganisms.  
Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 In nano-food system, packaging plays significant role in
prolonging shelf life, freshness and quality of fresh and
stored food products.

 Numerous nanosensors are developed for various

applications in food sector, mostly for improving the
shelf life, food quality, safety, fortification as well as
utilizations of biosensors for contaminated or spoiled
food or food packaging.
Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 Nanosensors in food packaging
 Smart packaging and food tracking
 Nanosensors and antimicrobial activators are being
engineered to be capable of detecting food spoilage
and releasing nanoantimicrobes. Such systems will
extend shelf-life of food.

 Mars Inc. is a company that has patented invisible

edible nano wrapper which will act as an envelope
for foods to prevent gas and moisture exchange.
 Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 Nanosensors in food packaging
 Interactive ‘smart’ food
 Kraft and Nestle food companies are working on designing
„smart‟ foods that are intended to interact with the
consumers so they can personalize their food, by changing
colour, flavour, and nutrients on demand.
 Kraft is developing a clear tasteless drink that contains
hundreds of flavours in latent nano capsules, by using a
microwave you would be able to trigger the release of the
colour, flavour, concentration and texture of the individual’s
choice.
Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 Nanosensors in food packaging
 Aptasensors
 Aptasensors are aptamer-based biosensors with
excellent recognition capability towards a wide
range of targets.

 Nanoparticle-based aptasensors consists of

aptamers (the target-recognition element) and
nanomaterial (the signal transducers and/or signal
enhancers).
Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 Nanosensors in food packaging
 Aptasensors
 Aptamers are single stranded nucleic acid or
peptide molecules of size less than 25 kDa with
natural or synthetic origin. They are highly specific
and selective towards their target compound.
 There is a wide variety of nanomaterials which can
be used in aptasensors, metal nanoparticles and
nanoclusters, semiconductor nanoparticles, carbon
nanoparticles, magnetic nanoparticles etc.
Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 Nanosensors in food packaging
 Aptasensors
 Nanospectroscopic techniques Raman scattering
and SERS and surface enhanced resonance
Raman scattering (SERRS) have important
application in construction of aptasensors
applied in food packaging.
Nanotechnology in food packaging
and transportation
 Nanosensors in food packaging
 Aptasensors
Food forensic
 Investigation of
 Food origin
 Authentication (fraud)
 Provenance of a foodstuff
 Microbial spoilage and contamination
Food forsenic
 Food forensic involves the possibility of
using powerful scientific methods for the
authentication and traceability of
foodstuffs.

 Nanospectroscopic methods are very

important in this field.
Food forsenic
 Raman spectroscopy is ideally suited for food forensic,
due to the specificity and the diversity of the analytes
which can be probed; ranging from the macro-food,
lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, to the minor
components, dyes, pigments, preservatives.
Food forensic
 Raman and IR spectroscopy have been applied in the
identification of olive oils adulterated with hazelnut
oil. 

 Raman spectroscopy have been employed in the

authentication of apple, pomegranate and
blueberry juices. 
Food forensic
 Raman spectroscopy has been used to confirm the
botanical and geographical origins of European honey.

 Methods based on IR spectroscopy are used more in

the determination of microbial spoilage and
contamination than Raman spectroscopy.
Conclusions
 Nanotechnology and nanospectroscopy play an important role in
agriculture and food production as well as in livestock production.

 Their potential use and benefits are enormous.

 Existing applications of nanotechnology in food and agriculture

are more oriented to reduce the negative impact of agrochemical
products in the environment and human health, rather than the
utilization of nanotechnology applications to improve their
properties for food and livestock production.
Conclusions
 Vibrational spectroscopy as a nano spectroscopy method is an
extremely useful tool for food industry and agriculture.

 The field of food forensics is a very important and modern

application of vibrational spectroscopy, especially in determination
of food origin and adulteration.

 Successful utilization of apt sensors in several detection formats,

including food and water analysis is confirmed by plentitude of
available literature related to application of aptamers.
Conclusions
 However, to employ nano aptasensing in food analysis, it is necessary to
prioritize the ultimate aim of the application.

 The potential benefits of nanotechnology for agriculture and food

production need to be balanced against concerns for the soil, water,
environment, and the occupational health of workers.

 The success of these advancements depends of knowledge and

awareness of potential toxicological effects of nanofoods, nano
agrochemicals, nano packaging and other nanomaterials, risk of
exposure, user acceptance and regulation issues.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!!