In combination with biofermentation, desirable natural compounds can now be produced in large amounts at a low cost and with little environmental impact. Nanotechnology is also beginning to find potential applications in the area of food and agriculture. In addition to this, the development of novel food packaging methods and techniques has not only increased the shelf life of foods, but also improved their safety and quality. Packaging preserves food throughout the supply chain of distribution, storage, sale, and use and carries information about nutrition and storage on its label. Without it, goods can become exposed and contaminated. There is no doubt that scientific advances depend not only on new ideas, conceptual leaps and paradigm shifts, but also to a large extent on technological advances that make these steps possible.

Because of the importance of technical advances in the food sector, this article has brought out new technologies with sufficient technical details to allow a deeper understanding of the technique described which will give insight into current and possible future applications. 

Can bacteria in water be detected with a sniff?

Scientists have developed a simple biosensor based on the human nose to sniff out the smelly molecules which can applied to detecting contaminated drinking water, according to a study published recently in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics1. A human olfactory receptor (hOR)-based bioelectronic nose mimics the human smell sensing system and can quickly identify odours, easily assess quality of water with high sensitivity and selectivity by detecting geosmin (GSM) and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) mainly produced by bacteria, which are representative odor compounds and also indicators of contamination in the water supply system. The biosensor is coated with special proteins called human olfactory receptors that bind to the compounds when they are present. Human olfactory receptors (hOR) react to GSM and MIB, and bind them in single-walled carbon nanotubes field –effect transistor and this was functionalized with olfactory nanovesicles (nanovesciles express the hORs on surface, are produced from Human embryonic kidney, HEK-293 cell) for a conversion of biological signals to electric signals i.e. when the compounds are present, the carbon nanotubes light up. The sensor was designed to detect two different odorants at the same time for more accurate assessment of water contamination. In tests, the researchers found that their device can detect GSM and MIB at concentrations as low as 10 nanograms per litre of water, or 10,000 parts per trillion i.e. limit of detection (LOD) is10ng/L, which is sufficiently low level for water quality monitoring. Furthermore, detection of these compounds from the real samples such as tap water, bottled water and river water was available without any pre-treatment processes. 

Importance of the device:

i.This device would help water quality technicians detect contaminants quickly in real time and even on the spot, preventing the delay caused by lab testing, by directly detecting water contaminants without any pre-treatment process.

ii.It could be used in different applications in the perfume or cosmetic industry, wine and coffee industry.

iii.There is also a role for security, for example in drug searches or to spot explosives at airports.

Electronic noses have been used in a variety of commercial agricultural-related industries, including the agricultural sectors of agronomy, biochemical processing, botany, cell culture, plant cultivar selections, environmental monitoring, horticulture, pesticide detection, plant physiology and pathology. 

Beans and Nuts without allergen

Food allergy caused by eating legumes is not rare, and is increasing. Easily the most famous of these legume allergies is peanut allergy. Peanut allergy can be very dangerous, deadly and in the U.S., approximately three million people report allergies to peanuts and tree nuts. Soy allergy is also a common allergy among children. Approximately 0.4% of American children have a soy allergy. Most children outgrow their soy allergy by the age of 10. Thus, food allergies are a growing food safety and public health concern that affect an estimated 4%–6% of children in the United States. This potentially deadly disease affects 1 in every 13 children (under 18 years of age) in the U.S. That’s roughly two in every classroom.

Such food allergies are triggered when the immune system recognizes specific proteins in the food and releases the antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE) to latch on to the allergen, thereby causing reactions from mild itching to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Anaphylaxis symptoms can include difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, swelling of the tongue, eyes or face, stomach pain, nausea and vomiting, skin rashes, blisters, itching, inflammation, pain, and, in some cases, even death. Allergy free nuts are coming to supermarket shelves within a few years after scientists discovered how to modify the dangerous proteins which can trigger deadly reactions.

Soybean seed proteins are immunologically bioactive as food allergens resulting in it being classified as one of the eight major food allergens, regulated under Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) which is an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and requires that the label of a food that contains an ingredient that is or contains protein from a "major food allergen " declare the presence of the allergen in the manner described by the law.

As soybean allergy is one of the allergies predominant in the USA, a new type of soybean, with significantly reduced levels of three key proteins viz. Kunitz trypsin inhibitor, soybean agglutinin and P34 responsible for both of its allergenic and anti-nutritional effects, has been conventionally bred by the Scientists (Schmidt et al., 2015)2 from the Universities of Arizona and Illinois. The new variety, dubbed Triple Null has same properties as normal soy in terms of texture and potential uses such as livestock and agriculture. This soybean can be directly employed in any currently used food processing mode such as conventional feed/food source without modification. It has also potential use in immunotherapy to mitigate soybean allergenic response.

Another new process which has lead to the development of allergen free peanuts has been developed by Dr. Jianmei Yu, a food & nutrition researcher in the NC A&T School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences in Greensboro, U.S. state of North Carolina with two faculty members Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna and Dr. Ipek Goktepe. The process includes treating roasted peanuts, removed from the shell and skin, by soaking them in food-grade enzymatic solution. Studies show that this treatment reduces key peanut allergens Ara h 1 to undetectable levels and Ara h 2 by up to 98 percent. The resulting peanuts look and taste like roasted peanuts. Treated peanuts can be used as whole peanuts, in pieces or as flour to make foods containing peanuts safer for many people who are allergic. Treated peanuts also can be used in immunotherapy. 

In addition to above, allergen-free cashew nuts have also been developed by reshaping proteins so they are no longer recognised by the immune system. The process includes treating proteins from cashew extract with a potent combination of heat and sodium sulfite, “generally regarded as safe,” or GRAS, by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The treatment essentially cuts the proteins into smaller pieces, destroying the IgE molecules' ability to recognize them. When the researchers, Dr Chris Mattison and his team of the Agricultural Research Service, a branch of the US Department of Agriculture, tested the altered proteins by mixing them with IgE taken from people allergic to cashews, about 50% fewer of the IgE bound to the altered proteins compared with when they mixed the IgE with unmodified cashew proteins. That is how the researchers could change their shape and found that that sodium sulfite can effectively disrupt the structure of the cashew allergens. Using a GRAS compound in this process is the only way the altered nuts could eventually be manufactured as a food product and could make nuts safe to eat for people hypersensitive to cashew.

Touch & feel Packaging 

There are new technical advances in Food Packaging sector wherein two terms seem to dominate the landscape in packaging, these are active packaging and intelligent packaging (sometimes also called smart packaging), which in case food is contaminated or spoiled, can change the colour depending upon the sensors attached. 

ACTIVE PACKAGING - As per the definition in EU Regulation (EC No. 450/2009), ‘active materials and articles’ means materials and articles that are intended to extend the shelf-life or to maintain or improve the condition of packaged food; they are designed to deliberately incorporate components that would release or absorb substances into or from the packaged food or the environment surrounding the food and INTELLIGENT PACKAGING  means “Intelligent materials and articles” which monitor the condition of packaged food or the environment surrounding the food. The term is commonly used in a broad sense including features concerning product identity, authenticity and traceability, tamper evidence and theft protection, as well as quality issues.

Indian packaging converters are finding much deserved recognition in the last few years. They are investing in better machinery and skills. To endorse them, the government needs to invest a lot more in the R&D segment because of which various Industrial problems relating to innovation on new technologies could be solved. New types of active packaging systems as discussed above in this article (such as oxygen scavengers, ethylene scavengers, liquid and moisture absorbers, flavor and odor absorbers or releasers, antimicrobials, etc.) and intelligent packaging systems (time-temperature indicators, gas detectors, and freshness and/or ripening indicators) are developed globally which can also cater to special needs of the consumers in India. However, recognition of the benefits of these technologies by the food industry and increased consumer acceptance is necessary for commercial realization of these packaging technologies.