ABSTRACT
The development of structures at the nanoscale has been pointed as one of the most promising topics in the food industry, as it can help in developing safer and healthier foods while increasing their quality and reducing cost production. Nanostructures can not only be used to improve food processing and change the physicochemical properties of materials but can also be a way to encapsulate and deliver functional compounds. One of the challenges is the use of bio-based materials approved for food applications and methodologies and techniques considered safe during food production. Electrohydrodynamic processing has been recently suggested to be a simple and straightforward method to generate nanostructures and pointed as an emerging technology, which can be employed as a tool for the design of nanostructures in the food industry. Some of its advantages are no requirement of high temperatures (i.e., sensitive ingredients can be encapsulated without any activity loss) and the possibility of using only water-based solutions.
This chapter focuses on the design and production of systems using electrohydrodynamic processes (electrospun fibers and electrosprayed nanocapsules), exploring the ingredients used, production techniques, predominant forces, and properties of the final systems. Finally, an insight into the applications of the developed systems will be presented exploring their main advantages and drawbacks for food applications.
