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

Bio-nanocomposites for food packaging applications

The structure

Fish gelatin: properties, challenges, and prospects as an alternative to mammalian gelatins

Foreword. Preface. Introduction. The Framework of Population Balances. Birth and Death Functions. The Solution of Population Balance Equations. Similarity Behavior of Population Balance Equations. Inverse Problems in Population Balances. The Statistical Foundation of Population Balances. Index.

Population Balances: Theory and Applications to Particulate Systems in Engineering

Book reviewRheological methods in food process engineering: By James F. Steffe

Some amyloid related proteins/peptides are involved in aggregation and pore formation in phospholipid membranes (cell membranes), which result in a variety of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and Huntington disease. In this research, the mechanism of pore formation by β amyloid (Aβ) peptides was investigated using molecular dynamics simulation by simulating the interaction of the Aβ(11-42) peptide, with a lipid membrane and the potential of the mean force of interaction was evaluated. A 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membrane system with different cholesterol concentrations was used to simulate the neural cell membrane. The results indicated that Aβ(11-42) peptide oligomers with peptide numbers larger than two were more likely to lead to lipid deformation and water channels, and the free energy of penetration into the membrane decreased with the increasing number of peptides. Increasing the concentration of cholesterol leads to a higher energy barrier for the penetration of peptide into the lipid bilayer thereby protecting the membrane. The results of this research have potential application in the prevention of pore formation by Aβ aggregates on the lipid membrane.

Investigation of the interaction of amyloid β peptide (11–42) oligomers with a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membrane using molecular dynamics simulation

The dynamics of surface pressure (Π) and of surface concentration (Γ) of 14C radiolabeled bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorbed onto spread lecithin monolayers at the air−water interface were measure...

Interactions of Spread Lecithin Monolayers with Bovine Serum Albumin in Aqueous Solution

The effect of interparticle forces on Brownian coagulation of aerosols is usually accounted for through a phenomenological sticking probability, i.e., the probability of coagulation upon collision. This probability is customarily assumed to be equal to unity even though it is recognized that it is smaller than unity for very small particles. A Monte Carlo method for the simulation of Brownian coagulation of equal-sized electrically neutral spherical aerosol particles is presented, which takes into account the interparticle forces due to van der Waals attraction and Born repulsion instead of the phenomenological sticking probability. The particle motion is described by the generalized Brownian dynamics. The Brownian coagulation coefficient for particles of unit density, for a Hamaker constant of 10−12 erg, is calculated over the entire range of Knudsen numbers. For large particles, the results of the simulation agree very well with those provided by the model proposed previously by the authors (1) and also with the Fuchs interpolation formula. In this case the results indicate that the sticking probability is close to unity. For sufficiently small particles, the coagulation coefficient agrees with the lower bound provided by the model proposed by the authors (1). The extrapolation to sufficiently small particles of the model (1) proposed for large particles provides an upper bound with much larger values. For particles of intermediate sizes, the coagulation coefficient is found to be even higher than the values predicted by the model valid for large particles (1). The coagulation coefficients of the particles of intermediary size are greater than those corresponding to a sticking probability of unity whereas those of the sufficiently small particles are much smaller because of the following two opposite effects: (i) As the particle size decreases, the ratio of the decay length of the interaction potential (based on the shortest distance between the particles) and the particle size increases; this relative increase in the range of the van der Waals attraction increases the rate of collisions between particles. (ii) As the particle size decreases, the interaction potential becomes less deep and, as a result, the probability of escape of the particles from the potential well increases. In the intermediary size range, the former effect, which was not accounted for in the model for large particles (being negligible in that case), is more important, whereas for very small particle sizes, the latter effect predominates. The calculated values of the collision efficiency are small for sufficiently small particles, increase with particle size and eventually reach the value of unity for large particles. Extrapolating to particles of molecular dimensions, one can understand why in the cases in which only physical interactions are involved the collision efficiency is negligibly small.

Monte Carlo simulation of brownian coagulation over the entire range of particle sizes from near molecular to colloidal: Connection between collision efficiency and interparticle forces

A model for the hydrodynamics of coalescing foam bed is proposed which accounts for liquid drainage through thin films and plateau borders, bubble coalescence, and mixing of liquid between thin films and plateau borders. Foam bed is assumed to consist of equal sized dodecahedral bubbles at any cross section, and the variation of bubble size with foam height due to coalescence is described through phenomenological models. This model is employed to investigate the effect of coalescence on enrichment and recovery for the nonanol-water system in a continuous foam fractionation column for different inlet bubble sizes, superficial gas velocities, and inlet concentrations. Coalescence is found to yield higher enrichments and lower recoveries, possibly because of the predominant effect of increased liquid drainage due to larger bubble sizes resulting in a significant decrease in liquid holdup with foam height. Larger bubble sizes and lower superficial gas velocities were found to result in higher enrichm...

Ganesan Narsimhan

Papers

Book reviewRheological methods in food process engineering: By James F. Steffe

Investigation of the interaction of amyloid β peptide (11–42) oligomers with a 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membrane using molecular dynamics simulation

Interactions of Spread Lecithin Monolayers with Bovine Serum Albumin in Aqueous Solution

Monte Carlo simulation of brownian coagulation over the entire range of particle sizes from near molecular to colloidal: Connection between collision efficiency and interparticle forces

Effect of Coalescence on the Performance of a Continuous Foam Fractionation Column