ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ

TALAB A.S¹ and GHANNAM H.E.²

^1,2 The National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Cairo, Egypt.

APPLICATION OF NANOTECHNOLOGY IN FISH PROCESSING.

ABSTRACT:

Nanotechnology of fish and fish products are referred to fish and fish products which has been cultivated, produced, processed, packaged or preserved using nanotechnology techniques or tools, or to which manufactured nonmaterial’s have been added. Nanotechnology can be applied in fish processing technology to create novel fishery products and to alter existing fishery products to deliver nutrients, proteins and antioxidants to the body more effectively and more efficiently. The nanotechnology foods is expected to provide more potential benefits to the consumers in the aspect of human health due to it is composed or constructed from the nanoscale size particles, known as nanoparticles. In the present paper a review on the potential application of nanotechnologies in the sector of fish processing technology is presented.

INTRODUCTION:

Fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in practice it is extended to cover any aquatic organisms harvested for commercial purposes, whether caught in wild fisheries or harvested from aquaculture or fish farming. Fish processing can be subdivided into fish handling, which is the preliminary processing of raw fish, and the manufacture of fish products. Another natural subdivision is into primary processing involved in the filleting and freezing of fresh fish for onward distribution to fresh fish retail and catering outlets, and the secondary processing that produces chilled, frozen and canned products for the retail and catering trades [10].

The purpose of fish processing is to convert the raw fish into a form that is still acceptable to the consumer and that has a longer shelf life. However, to ensure a high-quality finished product, it is necessary to begin with a high-quality raw product. This, once again, accentuates the importance of primary processes [9].

Historically, the concept of nanotechnology was first envisaged by Professor Richard P Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics 1965, in his 1959 lecture «There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom» in which he explored the possibility of arranging matter at the atomic level. The term ‘nanotechnology’ was not coined however until 1974, when Professor Norio Taniguchi of Tokyo Science University used it to refer to the ability to engineer materials precisely at the nanoscale [15].

Humans have used technologies to modify their food ever since they invented cooking about 300,000 years ago. The dawn of agriculture approximately 10,000 years ago brought with it a host of new technologies, including selective breeding to enhance crop and livestock yields, and techniques of preservation such as salting, drying, and smoking. The industrialization of food manufacture in the 19^th century led to further innovations in processing and storage, such as canning and freezing, and this continues up to the present day. The advance of nanoscience picked up pace in the 1980s and 1990s, with the development of tools that allowed the observation and manipulation of matter at the nanoscale (such as the scanning tunneling microscope in 1982 and the atomic force microscope in 1986). Nanotechnologies are now applied in a variety of sectors such as the pharmaceutical and healthcare, automotive and electronic industries [16].

Joseph and Morrison [7] defined the term nanofood as food which has been cultivated, produced, processed or packaged using nanotechnology techniques or tools, or to which manufactured nonmaterial’s have been added [15].

Russian scientists from Russian Academy of Science reported that young carp and sturgeon fish exhibited a faster rate of growth (30% and 40%, respectively) when they were fed nanoparticles of iron [2,21].

Fishery products are structured using a recipe (o formulation) whereas two simultaneous processes occurs formation the structure (i.e.: by means of phase creation, reactions, biopolymer transformation) and stabilization of the system (i.e. verification, crystallization, network formation) [4].

The main applications of nanotechnology in food processing is to alter the texture of food components, encapsulate the food components or additives, develop new tastes and sensations, control the release of flavors and increase the bioavailability of nutritional components. As a result, this has led to the development of nanostructured food ingredients and delivery systems for nutrients and supplements through the production of nanocapsules, nanotubes, nanoparticles, and nanoemulsions [1,5,15].

In food processing, nanoparticles have been added into food to improve the food’s flow properties, color, and stability during processing, while, to increase the food’s shelf life and it is more easily been absorbed by body. The particles that are mostly used as additives in food are silicon dioxide and titanium dioxide [5,19].

Nanocapsule also known as coated nanoparticle as it is a nanoparticle consist of a shell and a space, in which, the desired substances are placed. Nanotechnology has been enabling the development of nanocapsule that can be incorporated into food for delivery of bioactive such as omega-3 fatty acids, carotenes, vitamins, and coenzyme Q10. For example, the fish oils that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids may be encapsulated and deliver to the consumer through the food in order to improve the food’s stability and avoid the undesired interactions during food processing. In food processing, nanocapsules have been used in several areas. For instances, nanocapsule has been used to improve bioavailability of neutraceuticals in standard ingredients such as cooking oils; the infusion of plan-based steroid to replace the meat’s cholesterol; and used to produced nanoencapsulated flavor enhancers [5,15].

Nanoemulsion has been used in the production of food products such as salad dressing, flavoured oils, sweetener, personalized beverages and other processed foods. These food products are nanoemulsion to release different flavors’ through activation with heat, ultrasonic frequency, pH or other triggers. The color, flavor or nutrient content of foods can be adjusted to accommodate a person’s taste or health condition [11, 15].

Nanotechnology has increasingly being employed in food packaging and had been commercially applied. Food packaging materials that are derived by applying nanotechnology has become the largest category of current nanotechnology applications for the food sector. The nanotechnology applications in food packaging have led to the development of smart, active and intelligent packaging that can improve the quality and safety of food to consumers by responding to the environmental change. These new bio-based packaging materials are such as edible and biodegradable films which made from renewable resources [1,6,15].

The method used to improve the properties of polymer is by adding reinforcing compounds such as silver, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide and clay into the polymers to produce nanoparticle-reinforced polymers. As a result nanoparticles and nanocomposites which showed very different properties from their microscale counterpart have been produced. These nanoparticles and nanocomposites have been approved to compose novel characteristics that can be applied in developing new packaging with better properties than packaging produced with micromaterials [14, 15, and 20].

The most common particles used for nanoreinforcement in food packaging are clay and silicates to produce polymer composites due to their availability, low cost, significant enhancements and relative simple process ability. Nanocomposites such as nanoclays and nanofilms have been used as barrier materials to prevent spoilage and prevent oxygen absorption [3,5,15]. The researches and efforts to modify the food packaging have led to the advent of new polymeric materials and composites with inorganic nanoparticles such as nanoclay [8,15].

The incorporation of clay nanoparticle into food packaging was the first nanocomposites produced and emerged on the market. Polymer-clay nanocomposite is the nanocomposite that based on organic polymers and inorganic clay minerals consisting of silicate layers. The properties of polymer can be improved by adding small amount of clay at the nanoscale level [1,14,15].

Edible nanocomposite-based materials are such as the edible films and coatings. These edible films and coatings have been defined as the thin, continuous layers of edible materials used as a coating or as a film placed between food components to provide a barrier to mass transfer. The formation and application modes of these two kind of edible nanocomposite-based materials on the foods are basically different [8,15].

Nanofilms are the films which have been incorporated with nanoparticles, such as clays, in order to improve the physical properties of these films. The nanoparticles play a role to enhance the barrier effect of films such as against oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor while able to maintain the transparency and improve the development of hot packaging process. Due to the effectiveness of nanoparticles in the films, it was found the commercial applications of nanofilms in food packaging as they are transparent, glossy and completely edible [12,14,15].

The ability of nanotechnology for the quick detection of viruses, bacteria and other pathogen in the food materials is contributed to preserve the food from being rotten and odor. This characteristic of nanotechnology also believed able to contribute to ensure the safety of foods being consumer by people [15].

There are a few type of nanosensor have been developed to fulfil the different requirements and applications in the food sector. However, there are a typical nanosensor could be placed directly into the packaging materials to detect chemicals released during food spoilage. By embedding a nanosensor in food packages, the determination of whether food has gone bad or show its nutrient content can be allowed. This kind of nanosensor would serve as electronic nose or electronic tongue [15,17,18].

Electronic nose so-called because it is devices that mimic the operation of the human nose in which a series of response are used across an array of gas sensors of identify different types of odors. As electronic nose is function and operate like a human nose, the used of this kind of nanosensor is to identify the odorant, estimate the concentration of the odorant and find characteristic properties of the odor by using the gas sensor composed [15,17].

Electronic tongue is a device that mimic the operation of human organ, human tongue, what different is e-tongue is sensitive to the flavors in foods. Both of these two kinds of nanosensor able to alert the consumer by providing and triggering an electronic signal warning, a color change on the packaging, if the food had become contaminated or if it had begun to spoil [15,18]. Another method which used in food preservation is the use of silver nanoparticles in food packaging. Silver particles is added in to the food packaging functioned for food preservation [15,13].

An active packaging and aseptic food containers based on silver ions are particularly promising because the ionic form of silver functioned as a powerful antimicrobial agent. The use of the packaging or coating films that containing antimicrobial agents can improve the safety of food as it able to slow down the migration of the bactericidal agent from the carrier film structure to the food surface The researchers suggested that food packaging containing silver nanoparticles is essential to food preservation because it is able to extend the shelf life of foods by preventing the growth of post-processing contaminants and biofilms formation in food-contact surfaces. By incorporating the silver nanoparticles into the food packaging would ensure the safety of food, extend the food’s shelf life, and improve the quality of foods; while to fix the requirements of consumers [13,15,19]. Finally, nanotechnology is considered as a technology that is has been applied in all phases of the food and therefore fish processing technology.

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