Chapter 6 - Application of polymer nanocomposites in food and bioprocessing industries

Abstract

The neoteric demands of man in the aspects of food, health, and the environment have accordingly necessitated the development and use of more ingenious materials and methodologies for meeting such essentials on the industrial scale. The adoption of nanotechnology on the manufactory basis, particularly with regards to food and other biorelated processing enterprises, has fostered the utilization of nanomaterials; polymeric nanocomposites (PNCs) being prominent. The versatility of PNCs makes them serviceable in these fields for diverse functionalities such as biocatalysis, biorefining, active and intelligent packaging, enzyme immobilization, and waste treatment among several others. Owing to their fundamental characteristic of being the integration of nanoscale inorganic materials in polymer matrices, the manipulation of their compositional formulations has been exploited industrially for the fabrication of novel and multifunctional PNCs. On the basis of environmental conservation and increasing concerns regarding climate change, this has spurred the appliance of PNC materials for inventions of ecofriendly and biodegradable products by commercial biofirms. In a similar premise, the global awareness and subsequent interest regarding functional and therapeutic foods have motivated food manufacturers worldwide to embrace the technological concept of PNCs, chiefly in the subject of packaging with the intent of a long-term improvement and retainment of the nutritional constitution of manufactured edible products. This chapter comprehensively explores and delineates contemporary implementations of PNCs in food and bioprocessing industries. Their ingredient composition, manufacturing technique(s), and working mechanisms are learnedly textualized.