The numerous health benefits of pectins justify their inclusion in human diets and biomedical products. This review provides an overview of pectin extraction and modification methods, their physico-chemical characteristics, health-promoting properties, and pharmaceutical/biomedical applications. Pectins, as readily available and versatile biomolecules, can be tailored to possess specific functionalities for food, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, through judicious selection of appropriate extraction and modification technologies/processes based on green chemistry principles. Pectin's structural and physicochemical characteristics dictate their effects on digestion and bioavailability of nutrients, as well as health-promoting properties including anticancer, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, intestinal microflora-regulating, immune barrier-strengthening, hypercholesterolemia-/arteriosclerosis-preventing, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, antitussive, analgesic, anticoagulant, and wound healing effects. HG, RG-I, RG-II, molecular weight, side chain pattern, and degrees of methylation, acetylation, amidation and branching are critical structural elements responsible for optimizing these health benefits. The physicochemical characteristics, health functionalities, biocompatibility and biodegradability of pectins enable the construction of pectin-based composites with distinct properties for targeted applications in bioactive/drug delivery, edible films/coatings, nano-/micro-encapsulation, wound dressings and biological tissue engineering. Achieving beneficial synergies among the green extraction and modification processes during pectin production, and between pectin and other composite components in biomedical products, should be key foci for future research.

Recent advances in utilization of pectins in biomedical applications: a review focusing on molecular structure-directing health-promoting properties

Physical, antioxidant, and preservation properties of chitosan film doped with proanthocyanidins-loaded nanoparticles

Nanotechnology is an emerging technology in the field of food and agriculture; every individual molecule and atom can be modified or controlled by this technology. Everything that exists on the earth is made up of atoms and molecules. Problems in all the fields can easily be overcome by modifying or altering their nanosize. Similarly, nanotechnology could address many issues in the agriculture and food industries. Nanomaterials play a keen role in the place of pesticides, fertilizers, and biosensors. Nutrition enhancement, safe delivery of bioactive components and micronutrients, and food preservations were facilitated by the applications of nanotechnologies. Efforts have to be taken to create awareness among the public in this nanotechnology field. Future research directions were identified in this review to improve the nanoembedded agriculture system. This article reviews the recent development in the agriculture and food industries through nanotechnology, application of nanotechnology in the food and agricultural sectors, and research backlogs in such sectors.

https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/jnm/2022/1280411.pdf

Evolution and Recent Scenario of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Industries

Konjac glucomannan/Pullulan films incorporated with cellulose nanofibrils-stabilized tea tree essential oil Pickering emulsions

Chitosan is a multifunctional biopolymer that is widely used in the food and medical fields because of its good antibacterial, antioxidant, and enzyme inhibiting activity and its degradability. The biological activity of chitosan as a new food preservation material has gradually become a hot research topic. This paper reviews recent research on the bioactive mechanism of chitosan and introduces strategies for modifying and applying chitosan for food preservation and different preservation techniques to explore the potential application value of active chitosan-based food packaging. Finally, issues and perspectives on the role of chitosan in enhancing the freshness of food products are presented to provide a theoretical basis and scientific reference for subsequent research.

/pdf/chitosan-based-materials-an-overview-of-potential-2g333ldx.pdf

Chitosan-Based Materials: An Overview of Potential Applications in Food Packaging

Enhancing the performance of konjac glucomannan films through incorporating zein–pectin nanoparticle-stabilized oregano essential oil Pickering emulsions

J. Rout

Papers

Enhancing the performance of konjac glucomannan films through incorporating zein–pectin nanoparticle-stabilized oregano essential oil Pickering emulsions

Enhancing the performance of konjac glucomannan films through incorporating zein–pectin nanoparticle-stabilized oregano essential oil Pickering emulsions

Microbial-enabled green biosynthesis of nanomaterials: Current status and future prospects