ABSTRACT
Biotechnology is defined as the ‘application of scientific and engineering principles to the processing of material by biological agents to provide goods and services’. The term ‘biotechnology’ is also used when a technique involving live organisms are employed to make or modify a product, improve plants or animals or develop microorganisms for specific uses. Inputs for food processing applications from biotechnology include biocatalysts such as enzymes, tracing food ingredients such as Genetically modified ingredients in end products of food and feed and food quality testing applications for food borne pathogens. Applications of modern biotechnology in form of genetically modified organisms have gained much importance in comparison to the downstream applications during food processing and food safety. On-site detection of food contaminants and toxins during food processing operations and food fermentation processes is made easy by lab-on-chip based technologies to monitor the contaminants.
