Nanotechnology in Food and Agriculture
One of the main developments in nanotechnology is in the agriculture and food, need to involve almost all disciplines, both basic science and health, as well as associated engineering. In agriculture and have carried out numerous studies, which will develop tools for improving the ability of crops in the absorption of nutrients in the soil, resistance to weather or pests, etc., Greatly increased crops. And in food, are being carried out methods of detecting microorganisms harmful to humans, healthy and nutritious foods, etc. Then we will explain briefly summarizes several examples of some of the main applications in food and agriculture that are being carried out in recent years and will greatly affect our daily lives.
First we’ll talk about some of the different studies are underway in the agriculture sector. A peculiar example is the system developed by Dr. German Moreno Moya, graduate chemical National University of Colombia, and a member of the company Agrosol, which has developed and patented the Colloidal Transport System (CTS), which through globulisation product to achieve more efficient penetration and higher plants lining the area where it should apply different treatments. So by reducing the quantities of chemical residues in crops, such as fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides up to 40%, and therefore also reduce costs in production (audiovisual explanation here).
Another possibility in the advancement of agriculture is the creation of a nanoplaguicida, which is being conducted by various agricultural research institutes in India and Mexico. This would prevent the germination of the seeds of unwanted plants would be attacked by the pesticide created from nanoparticles (a link nanoplaguicidas very interesting.)
On the other hand are substantial advances and studies in the food industry to refer to nanotechnology. Many of them are dedicated to the development of the dairy industry. A great example is the firm FrieslandCampina based in Amersfoort (Netherlands) who is studying manufacturing products with low fat content without changing the taste and texture of them. Other companies are trying to extract active molecules of the milk that could produce drugs to combat osteoporosis, or allowing milk to create a better adapted to the metabolism of children, through the isolation of casein. Even a group of Polish scientists have managed to extract from sheep colostrum, molecules that are capable of stabilizing the health of Alzheimer patients.
Research is important to mention that develop technologies that allow rapid detection of pathogenic bacteria manual in food that cause infections in humans such as Escherichia coli O157: H7, the Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella spp, the latter being investigated by scientists U.S. Agricultural Research Service (summary here) where biosensors include fluorescent organic ink particles attached to antibodies that adhere to the organism causes allowing detection shine.
Other companies like Lionix (created by the University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands) in their laboratories seek to monitor the proper storage of fresh produce such as salad, even allowing the presence of a single pathogenic element in an amount of 25 grams matter.
Perhaps one of the largest and most important challenges is the decontamination of water. Already there are projects working in the application of nanoparticles by photocatalysis, allowing purify water, removing viruses, bacteria and protozoa present in it, for human consumption and agriculture. Against all odds, even there are applications to help address nutrition problems in developing countries, an example of this took place in Morocco, which was added vitamin A, iodine and iron to salt without altering its nutritional properties. This allowed for a reduction significantly anemia and goiter in school children.
All these examples have the potential brutal, which can enable great strides to improve our lives, but there are organizations such as Friends of the Earth or the ETC Group, who warn of the existence of new risks to health and the environment and demonstrate concern about the lack of regulation of nanotechnology in sectors such as agriculture and nutrition.
