ABSTRACT
The food and bioprocessing industry is facing enormous challenges in developing and implementing effective systems to foster high quality, safety, and effectiveness of the nutrient value of food to the human body. To answer these complex challenges, scientific innovation is needed. Nanotechnology is gaining momentum and becoming an important tool worldwide for the food and bioprocessing industry for meeting the upcoming challenges and demands that affect population nutritional requirements as well as food safety. There are various nanotechnological approaches; among them, nanoemulsions are an extensively applied process for food industries. Nanoceuticals, the science of nanoencapsulated nutraceuticals, or the use of nanoscience in food processing attracted the scientific community for its tremendous applications. The nanoemulsions comprise a lipid phase dispersed in an aqueous continuous phase, with each oil droplet being stabilized by a thin interfacial protective layer consisting of emulsifiers and co-emulsifiers. This exhibits tremendous troubleshooting property for food and drugs. Nanoemulsions are thermodynamically stable systems with droplet diameters ranging from 1 to 200 nm. The application of nanotechnology in the food industry influencing various macro-scale food characteristics, such as coloring strength, taste, food additives, flavorings, food processing and packaging, shelf life stability, and health-related attributes. The nanometric size-reduction considerably enhances the properties of food product components like solubility, increase surface area, stability, releasing capacity, and penetrability. Nanoemulsions are highly stable to gravitational separation, because of small particle size and Brownian motion, they possess fairly good physical stability of the products. Nanotechnology can also improve the water solubility, thermal stability, and oral bioavailability of functional compounds used in processing food materials. Therefore, for a better understanding of the art of fabricating the nanoemulsion in the food industry, a good understanding of functional components and their role is a prerequisite. The present chapter will focus on the major and minor components used in developing food-grade nanoemulsions that are going to influence their overall performance.
