Nanobiosensors in food science and technology

Nanotechnology has already been applied in several fields, up to now, most of the research on nanotechnology focused on electronics such as communication, energy production, and pharmaceutical and the food industry. The knowledge gained from these sectors could be adapted for the improvement of food products, such as for applications in food safety and quality (e.g., detecting pesticides and microorganism identification), encapsulation, improving the efficiency of delivery of nutraceutical and bioactive compounds, and packing systems and food storage. The nanoscale devices are often manufactured with the view to imitate the nanodevices found in nature; one way to get these results is by means of the biosensors to detect, among others, proteins, DNA, enzymes, cells, membranes, and other natural biomolecules used as bioreceptors and selecting the right transduction method (electrochemical, mechanical, or optical) in order to get more sensitive, specific, and real-time results. This chapter provides an introduction to the nanosensor field including specific consideration of three main application areas (food, environmental, and pharmaceutical); it also describes the typical biosensor assay format used and is subsequently structured according to the biorecognition elements used (i.e., enzymes, cellular structures/cells, antibody/antigen, nucleic acids/DNA, bacteriophages). In addition, information about lab on a chip based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) technology is also provided.