Polymer nanocomposite’s applications in food and bioprocessing industry

Anna Rafaela Cavalcante Braga^1,2, Ailton Cesar Lemes³, Veridiana Vera De Rosso¹

Department of Biosciences, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Santos, SP, Brazil.

Abstract

Food and bioprocessing industries present numerous intricate sets of engineering and scientific challenges, especially to produce safe and great quality food in a resourceful and sustainable way. Latest studies have shown that the use of nanomaterials can be a pathway to solve partially or completely those challenges. Emerging uses regarding nanotechnology in food bioprocessing industry includes the application of nanocomposites in different fields, such as food quality, systems for smart food packaging, and nanoencapsulation of bioactive food compounds. Different types of nanocomposites polymer, as powders, bulk and functional films have been shown an extensive potential for industrial and academic purposes. Polymer nanocomposite coatings are essential to food and bioprocessing industry because they increase the surface features of substrates and specificities for particular applications which is a great feature, considering those study areas. Nowadays the main use of nanocomposites based on biodegradable polymers in food is related with food package because they can be a sustainable option to substitute plastic-based food packages. A recent application that seems to be a promising trend for nanocomposites, is the nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds for food application. Because of their instability in the native form against environmental stress, bioactive compounds are not as effective as they could be to improve human health. Hence the use of nanocomposites is a promising way to turn bioactive compounds more stable, solving their restrictions enlarging their industrial application. Finally researchers worldwide are beginning to have an interest to use nanotechnology as tool to substitute food ingredients. Therefore the use of nanocomposites as food ingredients substitutes is an important feature to be largely exploited in Food and Bioprocessing Industry.

Keywords: Biopolymer, food quality, smart food systems, packaging, bioactive compounds.