ABSTRACT
Bakery products are staple food in most parts of the world. Bread has especially been considered more staple food for the Western world for decades. Developments in science and technology helped to evolve new products and processes in the bakery industry. Developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology are helping various sectors of the food industry from farm to fork, and the bakery industry is not an exception for this evolution (Neethirajan and Jayas 2011). The major application of nanotechnology is the development of active packaging materials in the bakery industry. Nanoencapsulation and nanoemulsion technologies can be used to add essential micro and macro nutrients to the bakery products during processing. Nanocomposites with nanoclay and other nanoparticles can be used for active packaging of bread and other bakery products to keep the bakery products for a long time with good quality (Alhendi and Choudhary 2013). Keeping the bakery products fresh is the most challenging task of the bakery industry due to quick physical and chemical changes occurring in the products. Active packaging techniques with nanomaterials can alter the mechanical, thermal, and gas transmission properties of the packaging polymers in order to keep the bakery products fresh and safe for a prolonged time. Nanotechnology also helped in the development of active packaging films with enhanced antimicrobial properties, which can control the growth of microorganisms like bacteria, mold, and yeast in the raw and processed products of the bakery industry. Nanoparticles of silver (Ag), gold (Au), and copper (Cu) can be incorporated with packaging polymers while casting, or they can apply the coating on the polymers to inhibit the growth of microbes. 156The bakery industry also uses conventional analytical techniques, such as plate culturing, gas chromatography (GC), and liquid chromatography, for detecting microorganisms in raw and processed products, which are either time consuming or expensive. Nanosensors developed using nanotechnology can be used to detect mold and bacteria attack on baked products, and these can be used for quick detection of mycotoxins in the raw materials like flour and processed products like bread (Akbari et al. 2015; Baeumner 2004; Gomes et al. 2015).
