ABSTRACT
The advancement in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology holds a great potential to revolutionize the scope in various fields. Food nanotechnology is an emerging area with great scope to generate innovative products and processes. Nanotechnology refers to the design, characterization, production, and application of structures, devices, and systems by controlling the shape and size at nanoscale, that is, magnitude of 10–9 m. The systems at nanoscale size range have the benefits of high surface to volume ratio, which seems to be beneficial in innovation and development in the field of medical diagnostic, therapeutics, energy, molecular computing, and structural materials. In food technology, nanotechnology has transformed the entire system from production of crops to processing, storage, and development of innovative products. The major applications of these techniques involve nanoencapsulation for controlled delivery of nutraceuticals, nanocomposite in packaging materials, and nanobiosensors for detecting microbial and physical contamination (Anandharamakrishnan 2014). This chapter places particular emphasis on nanoencapsulation, with specific attention paid to its materials and techniques.
