Application of Iron Nanoparticle-Based Materials in the Food Industry

Boosting nutritional value: the role of iron fortification in meat and meat products

Iron deficiency is a widespread nutritional problem affecting millions of people globally, leading to various health issues including anemia. Iron fortification of meat and meat products has emerged as an effective strategy to combat this issue. This review explores the process and benefits of iron fortification, focusing on the types of iron compounds suitable for fortification, such as ferrous sulfate and ferric pyrophosphate, their bioavailability, and their impact on the sensory and nutritional qualities of meat products. Technological challenges and solutions, including encapsulation, chelation, and microencapsulation techniques, have been examined to minimize their negative impacts on sensory qualities. This review also discusses the regulatory framework governing iron fortification and consumer acceptance. Analytical methods for determining iron content, such as spectrophotometric and colorimetric detection, are discussed. Although iron-fortified meat products offer health benefits, sensory aspects and consumer acceptance are important considerations. This review provides a comprehensive understanding of the role and significance of iron fortification in meat products as a public health intervention to address iron deficiency.

Application of nanomaterials for determination and removal of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in food products: A review

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), toxic persistent pollutants, result in adverse impacts to human being health. Among the variety contaminant remediation approaches, nanotechnology was found promising in terms of its efficiency and exceptional size-dependent properties. Nanomaterials also possess high particular surface area, rapid dissolution characteristics, high sorption, magnetic -properties and quantum confinement. Nanoparticles (NPs) have been employed as sorbents in the assessment of PAHs, including carbon NPs, mesoporous silica NPs, metallic species, metal oxides, as well as magnetic and magnetized NPs. Magnetic nanocomposites have demonstrated high efficiency (>99 %) in removing PAHs from food products. Similarly, a magnetic chitosan/molybdenum disulfide nanocomposite exhibited excellent adsorption capacities for PAHs in milk samples. Present research was conducted on multiple academic platforms, including Google Scholar, Science Direct, Elsevier, Springer, Scopus, and PubMed from 2017 to 2024. Various combinations of keywords, such as "PAHs," "extraction," "removal," and "nanomaterials," were used in the search. The aim of this manuscript is to reviews the application of nanotechnologies for the elimination and extraction of PAHs from contaminated food products. The findings of this study offer novel insights into efficient and cost-saving approach and suggest the potential of NPs as promising agents for preconcentration and remediation of PAHs from variety food samples. Also, the obtained results will pave the way for future explorations that will lead to the achievement of maximum efficiency for the analysis and extraction of materials in more diverse matrices. Therefore, it is suggested to investigate the potential of various nanomaterials regarding various matrices in future.

Rapid synthesis of magnetic Fe3O4/Ag nanocomposite based on a plant-mediated approach and its biological activity

The present study described a quick, efficient, and eco-friendly method for producing Fe3O4-Ag nanocomposite (NC) using Mentha pulegium L. plant extract. Ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) was employed to prepare an aqueous extract due to its speed and effectiveness. During the manufacture of Fe3O4-Ag NC, the prepared plant extracts were utilized as naturally occurring stabilizing precursors. The study also employed several methods for characterizing the synthesized NC, including X-ray diffraction patterns, which estimated the mean particle size to be 52 nm using the Deby-Scherrer equation. The successful synthesis of Fe3O4-Ag NC was approved by a broad absorption band from 400 to 425 nm in the absorption spectrum. Subsequently, the samples' antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant potentials (Fe3O4 NPs, Ag NPs, Fe3O4-Ag NC, and the extract) were investigated. Notably, the NP and NC samples showed higher antibacterial activity than the extract, wherein gram-negative bacteria were more significantly affected than gram-positive bacteria. The Fe3O4-Ag NC had MIC values of 0.062 mg/mL against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The Fe3O4-Ag NC was found to have a significant detrimental impact on the bacterial membranes of E. coli and S. aureus, as evidenced by the quick release of cytoplasmic components such as protein, nucleic acid, and potassium. The results also showed that the extract and Fe3O4-Ag NC samples exhibited strong antioxidant activity. The study recommends further investigation on the application of these metal nanoparticles in the water remediation, agriculture, and food industries due to their strong biological activity.

Prediction of Dynamic Toxicity of Nanoparticles Using Machine Learning

Predicting the toxicity of nanoparticles plays an important role in biomedical nanotechnologies, in particular in the creation of new drugs. Safety analysis of nanoparticles can identify potentially harmful effects on living organisms and the environment. Advanced machine learning models are used to predict the toxicity of nanoparticles in a nutrient solution. In this article, we performed a comparative analysis of the current state of research in the field of nanoparticle toxicity analysis using machine learning methods; we trained a regression model for predicting the quantitative toxicity of nanoparticles depending on their concentration in the nutrient solution at a fixed point in time with the achieved metrics values of MSE = 2.19 and RMSE = 1.48; we trained a multi-class classification model for predicting the toxicity class of nanoparticles depending on their concentration in the nutrient solution at a fixed point in time with the achieved metrics values of Accuracy = 0.9756, Recall = 0.9623, F1-Score = 0.9640, and Log Loss = 0.1855. As a result of the analysis, we concluded the good predictive ability of the trained models. The optimal dosages for the nanoparticles under study were determined as follows: ZnO = 9.5 × 10-5 mg/mL; Fe3O4 = 0.1 mg/mL; SiO2 = 1 mg/mL. The most significant features of predictive models are the diameter of the nanoparticle and the nanoparticle concentration in the nutrient solution.

Sprayable oxidized polyvinyl alcohol with improved degradability and sufficient mechanical property for fruit preservation

Besides their limited preservation capacity and low biosafety, traditional fruit preservation procedures exacerbate "white pollution" because they utilize excessive plastic. Herein, an environmentally friendly one-pot method was developed to obtain degradable polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), where the hydroxyl radicals generated through the reaction between hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and iron ions functioned to oxidize PVA. The oxidized PVA (OPVA-1.0) with abundant ketone groups, reduced crystallinity, and short molecular chains was completely degraded into H2O and CO2 after being buried in the soil for ∼60 days. An improvement in its degradation rate did not weaken the mechanical properties of OPVA-1.0 compared to other modified PVA films because the adverse effect of decreased crystallinity on its mechanical performance was offset by its ion coordination. Alternatively, the tensile strength or toughness of OPVA-1.0 was enhanced due to its internal multi-level interactions including molecular chain entanglement, hydrogen bonding, and metal coordination bonds. More interestingly, OPVA-1.0 was water-welded into various products in a recyclable way owing to its reversible physical bonds, where it was sprayed, dipped, or brushed conformally onto different perishable fruits to delay their ripening by 5-14 days. Based on the cellular biocompatibility and biosafety evaluations in mice, OPVA-1.0 obtained by the facile oxidation strategy was demonstrated to alleviate "white pollution" and delay the ripening of fruits effectively.

Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles Using an Aqueous Extract of Strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duchesne) Leaf Waste

In this study, we analysed the potential use of dried strawberry leaves and calyces for the production of nanoparticles using inorganic iron compounds. We used the following iron precursors FeCl3 × 6H2O, FeCl2 × 4H2O, Fe(NO3)3 × 9H2O, Fe2(SO4)3 × H2O, FeSO4 × 7H2O, FeCl3 anhydrous. It was discovered that the content of polyphenols and flavonoids in dried strawberries and their antioxidant activity in DPPH and FRAP were 346.81 µM TE/1 g and 331.71 µM TE/1 g, respectively, and were similar to these of green tea extracts. Microimages made using TEM techniques allowed for the isolation of a few nanoparticles with dimensions ranging from tens of nanometres to several micrometres. The value of the electrokinetic potential in all samples was negative and ranged from -21,300 mV to -11,183 mV. XRF analyses confirmed the presence of iron ranging from 0.13% to 0.92% in the samples with a concentration of 0.01 mol/dm3. FT-IR spectra analyses showed bands characteristic of nanoparticles. In calorimetric measurements, no increase in temperature was observed in any of the tests during exposure to the electromagnetic field. In summary, using the extract from dried strawberry leaves and calyxes as a reagent, we can obtain iron nanoparticles with sizes dependent on the concentration of the precursor.

Iron nanoparticles as food additives and food supplements, regulatory and legislative perspectives

Recently, the use of nanotechnology in food has gained great interest. Iron nanoparticles with unique chemical, physical and structural properties allow their potential use mainly as iron fortifiers, colorants and antimicrobial agents. However, in the market we can find only supplements and food colorants based on iron nanoparticles. Their use in food fortification has so far been focused only on in vitro and in vivo experimental studies, since the toxicological evaluation of these studies has so far been the basis for the proposals of laws and regulations, which are still in an early stage of development. Therefore, the aim of this work was to summarize the use of the different forms of iron nanoparticles (oxides, oxyhydroxides, phosphates, pyrophosphates and sulfates) as food additives and supplements and to resume the perspectives of legislation regarding the use of these types of nanoparticles in the food industry.

Sustainable and Green Synthesis of Iron Nanoparticles Supported on Natural Clays via Palm Waste Extract for Catalytic Oxidation of Crocein Orange G Mono Azoic Dye

In this study, the removal of Crocein Orange G dye (COG) from aqueous solution was investigated using an innovative green catalyst to overcome problems with chemical techniques. Clay bentonite El Hamma (HB)-supported nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) was used as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst for the oxidation of harmful COG. Palm waste extract was herein used as a reducing and capping agent to synthesize NZVI, and HB clay was employed, which was obtained from the El Hamma bentonite deposit in the Gabes province of Tunisia. HB and HB-NZVI were characterized by various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and zeta potential. Under optimal conditions, total degradation of COG was attained within 180 min. Kinetic studies showed that the dye degradation rate followed well the pseudo-second-order model. The apparent activation energy was 33.11 kJ/mol, which is typical of a physically controlled reaction. The degradation pathways and mineralization study revealed that the adsorption-Fenton-like reaction was the principal mechanism that demonstrated 100% degradation efficiency of COG even after three successive runs. Obtained results suggest that HB-NZVI is an affective heterogeneous catalyst for the degradation of COG by H2O2 and may constitute a sustainable green catalyst for azoic dye removal from industrial wastewaters.

Materials Make a Better Life: Functional Metals, Metal Oxides, and Metal Complexes

Materials based on metals, metal oxides, and metal complexes play an essential role in various areas of our lives [...].