Recent Advancement of Nanotechnology in Functional Foods

Functional foods (FFs) are the prerequisite of any food or agro-based industry and play a vital role by providing nutrients, as well as in the prevention and treatment of several diseases, like cancer, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular, respiratory, arthritis, and protection against COVID-19 viral infections. Conventional techniques have limitations in retaining nutritional benefits, preservation from environmental factors, and lack of stability. The advancement of nanotechnology offers several benefits to the food industry in terms of their characterization, fabrication, the preservation of foods (physical and chemical degradation), smart packaging, enhancing nutritional benefits, safety, etc. Moreover, novel nanomaterials and nanoparticles ensure improvement in solubility and bioavailability with achievable sustainable action at the targeted site, as well as a great contribution by smart and intelligent packaging. This book chapter specially focused on nanotechnology-based approaches used for applications, such as food processing, packaging, preserving, smart tracking, and extending the shelf-life of FFs. Nanoparticles containing organic and inorganic materials contribute to the potential applications in delivering functional foods. Outcomes of nanotechnology cover highly stable and more active antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticaking agent, etc. contributed extensively to the preservation of foodstuff. Following the market research report, the food market boosts globally by a CAGR of more than 24% during 2019 to 2023.