New Horizons of Nanotechnology in Agriculture and Food Processing Industry

This chapter addresses the potential application of nanotechnology in various areas of agriculture and food processing sector. Nanotechnology is an exciting and fast developing field which aims to generate new materials and devices with wide range of applications. Nanotechnology is capable to solve the very complex set of engineering and scientific challenges in the agriculture and processing industry. Nanotechnology has great potential in providing novel and improved solutions to many challenges facing agriculture and food sector. Nanotechnology based products and its applications in agriculture include nano-fertilizers, nano-herbicides, nano-pesticides, recalcitrant contaminants from water, nano-scale carriers, nan-osensors, veterinary care, fisheries and food processing etc. Nanotechnology revolutionized the agriculture and food industry by innovation new techniques such as: precision farming techniques, more efficient and targeted use of inputs, disease detection and control, withstand environmental pressures and effective systems for processing and packaging.

Applications of Gold Nanoparticles in Cancer

This chapter deals with the applications of gold nanoparticle in cancer and various strategies to target cancer cells by using gold nanoparticles. They are in great demand for biomedical applications such as DNA/Protein detection, bimolecular regulators, cell imaging and cancer cell diagnostics. The ability to tune the surface of the particle provides access to cell –specific targeting and controlled drug release. Depending on their size, shape, degree of aggregation, and local environment, gold nanoparticles can appear red, blue, or other colors. The novel drug delivery systems offer the opportunity to improve poor solubility, limited stability, bio distribution, and pharmacokinetics of drug as well as offering the potential ability to target specific tissues and cell types. The multifunctional gold nanoparticles are attractive organic –inorganic hybrid material composed of an inorganic metallic gold core surrounded by an organic or bimolecular monolayer they provide desirable attributes for the creation of drug delivery in cancer.

Nanobiotechnology and Therapeutics

Nanobiotechnology deals with the application of the tools and processes of nanotechnology to build devices for studying and manipulating biological systems. Current approaches of diagnosis and treatment of various diseases, especially cancer have major limitations such as poor sensitivity or specificity and drug toxicities respectively. Novel and improved methods of cancer detection based on nanoparticles are required to be developed. Some of the nanoparticles used for diagnostic purposes are paramagnetic nanoparticles, quantum dots, nanoshells and nanosomes. Drugs with high toxic potential like cancer chemotherapeutic drugs can be given with a better safety profile with the utility of nanotechnology. These can be made to act specifically at the target tissue by active as well as passive means. Simultaneously, other alternative ways of therapy such as heat induced killings of cancer cells by nanoshells and gene therapy are also being developed. Thus, it indicates that nanomedicine in future would play a crucial role in the treatment of human diseases.

Setting Priorities for the Development of Medicinal Plants Sector in J&K (Kashmir) and Their Progress towards Nanotechnology

Medicinal plants have assumed global importance in view of their ever increasing usage in health care system. This resurgence of interest in herbal medicine has largely been an outcome of the realization of ill effects which other systems are inflicting on human beings. In India more than 7500 of the plants are being regularly employed in treating different ailments. Nearly 40% of known medicinal plants of Kashmir Himalaya are used in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry alone. However, the continued exploitation of this resource from natural habitats in the absence of any cultivation programme has resulted in the extirpation of many herbs which require formulation of pound policies on the part of Government. Besides to empower the local communities the development of General Awareness Programs and their execution at the farmer's field is highly desirable. This may involve the establishment of Medicinal Plant Conservation Parks. The combination of nanotechnology and traditional medicine may provide a very useful tool in designing future medicines with improved bioavailability profile.

Nanomedicine as a Newly Emerging Approach Against Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB)

Emergence of MDR-TB is highly associated with morbidity and mortality and it needs high concerns about the possibility of a future TB epidemic as limited therapeutic options are available. The current treatment against TB needs daily administration for at least 6 months. That in turn leads to the development and spread of drug-resistant TB. Plenty of work has been done in nanomedicine that provides hope to encounter TB effectively. In the developing world the development of nanoparticle-based aerosol vaccines for tuberculosis has potential applications using on a large scale at relatively low cost, and particularly attractive for use. This book review examines the current TB diagnostic assays and treatment by nanotechnologies and highlight recent advances in Anti-TB Drug (ATD) delivery systems and anti-TB drug encapsulation. It also discusses the impact of the nanoparticles as an emerging treatment against MDR-TB and discusses the current knowledge and potential nanomedicine to improve MDR-TB therapy.

Role of Bioinformatics in Nanotechnology

Recent advancements in bio-computing and nano-technology accelerated the discovery of novel biomarkers in the emerging field of personalized medicine. Personalized medicine deals with disease detection and therapy from the molecular profile of each individual. Personalized medicine is also called as predictive medicine that uses genetic/molecular information to predict disease development, progression, and clinical outcome. In this chapter, we discuss the advantages of using nanotechnology to understand biological systems with an example of the biomarker discovery of cancer. Recent developments in bio computing served as the base for the identification of multiplexed probes in a nano particle. Together we have correlated the bio molecular signatures with clinical outcomes and we have also addressed an emerging field called bio-nano-informatics to suggest an individual therapy for cancer and other diseases.

Nanoencapsulation of Food Ingredients

Nanoencapsulation of food ingredients is one of the important applications of food nanotechnology. Nanoencapsulation is a technique used to produce nanocapsules from core materials packed within a wall material. Food manufacturers need to incorporate food ingredients with specific functional properties into food products. However, these ingredients may slowly degrade and lose their activity, or become hazardous due to various chemical reactions. They can also react with other components in the food system, which may lower their bioavailability, or change the color or taste of a product, allowing the food item to become prone to spoilage and deterioration. The protection of food ingredients against degradation and interaction with other food components may be done using the nanoencapsulation technique. It also, helps to enhance the bioavailability of food ingredients by protecting them during the digestive processes, improved uptake in the gastrointestinal tract and enhanced transport to the target sites. Nanosized materials provide a larger surface area for interaction with the biological substrates than microsized materials. Various techniques such as emulsification, coacervation, nanoprecipitation, solvent evaporation, spray drying and freeze drying are widely used techniques for nanoencapsulation of food ingredients.

The Impact of Nanotechnology on Environment

Nanotechnology is an emerging field that covers a wide range of technologies which are presently under development in nanoscale. It plays a major role in the development of innovative methods to produce new products, to substitute existing production equipment and to reformulate new materials and chemicals with improved performance resulting in less consumption of energy and materials and reduced harm to the environment as well as environmental remediation. The environmental impact of nanotechnology is the possible effects that the use of nanotechnological materials and devices will have on the environment. This impact can be split into two aspects: the potential for nanotechnological innovations to help improve the environment (beneficial part), and the possibly novel type of pollution that nanotechnological materials might cause if released into the environment (harmful part). The nanoparticles can be used an individual product in pure form or as an adjuvant with existing products in order enhance their activities. The beneficial aspects of nanoparticles include water filtration and treatment, green energy synthesis, degradation of plastics, detoxification harmful dyes and chemicals. The harmful aspects consist of unwanted by-products of nanoparticles, effluents of nano industries, etc.

Microbial Nanotechnology

Nanoparticles synthesis using microorganisms and others as source has been unexplored and underexploited. The development of green processes for the synthesis of NP is evolving into an important branch of nanotechnology. Fungal endophytes are microorganisms that colonize living, internal tissues of plants without causing any immediate, overtly negative effects, Endophytic fungi are ubiquitous in plant species and are mutualistic to their host, recently, endophytic fungi have been recognized as important sources of a variety of structurally novel active secondary metabolites with anticancer, antimicrobial and other biological activities, Endophytic mediated synthesis of metal nanoparticles is gaining more importance owing to its simplicity, rapid rate of synthesis of NP of attractive and diverse morphologies and elimination of elaborate maintenance of cell cultures and ecofriendliness. Presently, the researchers are looking into the development of cost-effective procedures for producing reproducible, stable and biocompatible metal NPs.

Biomedical Applications of Gold Nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles are the subject of intense studies due to the exceptional photo-optical properties combined with the biocompatibility and has proved to be a powerful tool in various nanomedicinal applications. This book chapter discusses the recent advances and current challenges facing the biomedical applications of gold nanoparticles of various sizes and shapes. This chapter summarizes the applications of gold nanoparticles in biomedical area including diagnostic imaging, biosensing, drug delivery, and photothermal and photodynamic strategies etc. The key advantages of the gold nanoparticles including their ease of synthesis and functionalization together with biodistribution and toxicity has also been discussed.