Nanotechnology will boom in next five years, study says

• The Nanotechnology is concerned with the production and control of materials and objects on the nanoscale, which is, to say the least, small is set to change the face of food processing sector in the near future.
• According to Yashnanotech, a division of Yash Management and Satellite, the implementation of nano technology will increase the shelf life of processed foods drastically.
• The company has recently begun operations in tie-up with UK-based Cientifica and is in the process of setting up a project soon.
• Nano packaging will be able to maintain freshness while Nanoencapsulation technology will allow for controlled release of the core or inner material.
• This technology is used in food, medicine, fragnance and scratches the snip products to protect the inner content just as an eggshell protects the inner contents.
• To make nutraceuticals effective, they need to be absorbed and not destroyed by the digestive system, so carriers are being developed using Nanoemulsions.
• One nanometer is the same as one millionth of a millimetre.
• The attraction of the technology is that new materials and processes, with functions and properties that cannot be achieved otherwise, can in principle be made through the accurate control at this atomic and molecular level.
• A recent study from Helmut Kaiser Consultancy, which looked into nanotechnology in the food industry estimated that the world nanofood market will surge from $2.6 billion today to 20.4 billion in 2010, as the industry begins to realise the potential benefits.
• Globally, more than 180 applications are in different developing stages and a few of them are in the market already.
• USA is the leader followed by Japan and China.
• By 2010 Asia with more than 50% of the world population will be the biggest market for Nanofood, led by China.