In this article, several applications of nanomaterials in food packaging and food safety are reviewed, including: polymer/clay nanocomposites as high barrier packaging materials, silver nanoparticles as potent antimicrobial agents, and nanosensors and nanomaterial-based assays for the detection of food-relevant analytes (gasses, small organic molecules and food-borne pathogens). In addition to covering the technical aspects of these topics, the current commercial status and understanding of health implications of these technologies are also discussed. These applications were chosen because they do not involve direct addition of nanoparticles to consumed foods, and thus are more likely to be marketed to the public in the short term.

Applications of nanotechnology in food packaging and food safety: Barrier materials, antimicrobials and sensors

"Nanoantibiotics": a new paradigm for treating infectious diseases using nanomaterials in the antibiotics resistant era.

As the field of nanomedicine emerges, there is a lag in research surrounding the topic of nanoparticle (NP) toxicity, particularly concerned with mechanisms of action. The continuous emergence of bacterial resistance has challenged the research community to develop novel antibiotic agents. Metal NPs are among the most promising of these because show strong antibacterial activity. This review summarizes and discusses proposed mechanisms of antibacterial action of different metal NPs. These mechanisms of bacterial killing include the production of reactive oxygen species, cation release, biomolecule damages, ATP depletion, and membrane interaction. Finally, a comprehensive analysis of the effects of NPs on the regulation of genes and proteins (transcriptomic and proteomic) profiles is discussed.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12951-017-0308-z.pdf

Metal nanoparticles: understanding the mechanisms behind antibacterial activity.

Oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is one of the most important antibacterial mechanisms of engineered nanoparticles (NPs). To elucidate the ROS generation mechanisms, we investigated the ROS production kinetics of seven selected metal-oxide NPs and their bulk counterparts under UV irradiation (365 nm). The results show that different metal oxides had distinct photogenerated ROS kinetics. Particularly, TiO2 nanoparticles and ZnO nanoparticles generated three types of ROS (superoxide radical, hydroxyl radical, and singlet oxygen), whereas other metal oxides generated only one or two types or did not generate any type of ROS. Moreover, NPs yielded more ROS than their bulk counterparts likely due to larger surface areas of NPs providing more absorption sites for UV irradiation. The ROS generation mechanism was elucidated by comparing the electronic structures (i.e., band edge energy levels) of the metal oxides with the redox potentials of various ROS generation, which correctly interpr...

Mechanism of Photogenerated Reactive Oxygen Species and Correlation with the Antibacterial Properties of Engineered Metal-Oxide Nanoparticles

Despite numerous existing potent antibiotics and other antimicrobial means, bacterial infections are still a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Moreover, the need to develop additional bactericidal means has significantly increased due to the growing concern regarding multidrug-resistant bacterial strains and biofilm associated infections. Consequently, attention has been especially devoted to new and emerging nanoparticle-based materials in the field of antimicrobial chemotherapy. The present review discusses the activities of nanoparticles as an antimicrobial means, their mode of action, nanoparticle effect on drug-resistant bacteria, and the risks attendant on their use as antibacterial agents. Factors contributing to nanoparticle performance in the clinical setting, their unique properties, and mechanism of action as antibacterial agents are discussed in detail.

/pdf/alternative-antimicrobial-approach-nano-antimicrobial-fcpo20i2qt.pdf

Eileen W.C. Cheng

Papers

Characterisation of copper oxide nanoparticles for antimicrobial applications

Investigations into the efficacy of methyhlphosphonic acid functionalised 1,4,7-triazacyclononane ligands in bleaching catalysis

Stereoselective Diels–Alder reactions of 3-phosphonopropenoyl derivatives of 1,3-oxazolidin-2-ones