Insight of nanotechnological processing for nano-fortified functional foods and nutraceutical—opportunities, challenges, and future scope in food for better health

Abstract

In the twenty-first century food sector, nanotechnological processing is a new frontier that has vibrant impact on enhancing the food quality, nutritional value, food safety, and nano-fortified functional foods aspects. In addition, the added-value of various robust nano-scale materials facilitates the targeted delivery of nutraceutical ingredients and treatment of obesity and comorbidities. The recent advancement in nanomaterial-assisted palatability enhancement of healthy foods opened up a whole new area of research and development in food nanoscience. However, there is no comprehensive review available on promises of nanotechnology in the food industry in the existing literature. Thus, herein, an effort has been made to cover this leftover literature gap by spotlighting the new nanotechnological frontier and their future scope in food engineering for better health. Following a brief introduction, promises of nanotechnology have revolutionized the twenty-first century food sector of the modern world. Next, recent and relevant examples discuss the exploitation and deployment of nanomaterials in food to attain certain health benefits. A detailed insight is also given by discussing the role of nano-processing in nutraceutical delivery to treat obesity and comorbidities. The latter half of the work focuses on improving healthy foods’ palatability and food safety aspects to meet the growing consumer demands. Furthermore, marketed products and public acceptance of nanotechnologically designed food items as well as future prospects are also covered herein.

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Disclosure statement

The listed authors declare that they have no conflicting interests.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) Mexico. K.M. Aguilar-Pérez thankfully acknowledges the CONACYT for supporting this work under the assigned CVU: 812289. Hafiz M.N. Iqbal thankfully acknowledges the CONACYT for supporting this work under the assigned CVU: 735340.