Nutritional and Pharmaceutical Applications of Nanotechnology: Trends and Advances

Abstract

The concept of "Nanoparticle" is not applied to the individual molecules but it is usually used to indicate to the inorganic materials. These particles vary into different kinds due to their ability to carry different components and act to various conditions of the environment. The different sorts of nanoparticles are used in various sectors such as nutrition, pharmacy, medicine, drug delivery, therapeutics, vaccine formulations, diagnostics, chemical industry, biotechnology and biomedicine for safeguarding health of humans and animals as well as enhancing growth and production performances. The application of nanotechnology is very important in the 21st century to clean up the environment from contaminants by eco-friendly, sustainable, green and economically technologies. Nanotechnology became an essential element of pharmaceutical sciences and nanomaterials have found many applications in systems of drug delivery to enhance the therapeutic performance and efficacy of different drugs and medicines. Most of the current "Nano" systems of drug delivery are linage of conventional dosage forms like nanomicelles, nanoemulsions and nanosuspensions. Also, nanotechnology will have a major role in the future areas of animal nutrition research. Nano additives could be incorporated in capsules or micelles of protein or other natural feed or food component. The use of nutrient nanoparticles may improve the bioavailability of carried nutrients by the epithelial barriers of the gut and their susceptibility to gastrointestinal degradation by digestive enzymes. Offering the matter in a nano form may also improve the functionality of feed/food molecules to the benefit of final product quality.