Nanotechnology in food and agriculture industry

Nanotechnology involves research and technology development at the atomic, molecular, and macromolecular levels, aimed at creating and using structures, devices, and systems with novel properties and functions based on their small size. It is strategically a very important research field with considerable industrial potential. Nowadays nanotechnology has rapidly become a significant component in the food and agriculture industry. In the food industry, nanotechnology is being used to produce intelligent packages (packages are sensitive to air and moisture changes, also have time temperature indicators, leakage indicators, spoilage indicators), produce healthier foods, improve food quality, as food ingredients, additives and supplements, water treatment and filtration, as waste water treatment chemicals (arsenic, heavy metals). In the agriculture, nanotechnology is being used to pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and plant growth regulators, veterinary medicines, and animal feed. Food and agriculture-related nanotechnologies may also pose indirect threats to human health. For example, created as a result of free radical production of nano particles damage and toxicity caused by some organisms the behavior of nanomaterials is still the human body unknown (DNA injury, the possibility of cancer cells, destructions of cells). In this chapter, some applications of nanotechnology in food and agriculture industry are discussed.