Nanotechnology and its applications in food and animal science

Nanotechnology has the potential to manipulate matter at the nanometre scale, creating and assembling substances at a molecular level with new and interesting properties. This has offered opportunities for applications in different sectors. Recently, nanotechnology has received particular attention due to its promising applications in animal nutrition, drugs and nutrients delivery, animal reproduction, disease diagnosis and treatment. In the food sector, nanotechnology is applied to the improvement of food packaging, processing, monitoring and the development of food with new functional properties that can respond to the needs of consumers. This review will focus on the advances of nanotechnology in food sector and animal science with particular attention to animal nutrition. The implications for safety and regulation will be also discussed.