Protecting families from contaminated food and water
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Protecting families from contaminated food and water
Posted in Our Blog on December 1, 2024
Nanoparticles on food may be more sci-real than sci-fi in the near future. At least that is the hope for some student researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
Recognized for their groundbreaking work in combating rice pathogens and potentially enhancing global food security, Dr. Hamidreza Sharifan, a prominent UTEP researcher along with his dedicated team have garnered attention on their upcoming publication.
Their discovery?
Nanoparticles on food as a way to address microbial contamination.
Along with head researcher Dr. Sharifan, two other team members make up a trio of minds. Each with their own perspectives and contributions.
Daisy Wilson, an environmental science and engineering Ph. D student, and her counterpart Valeria Gonzalez, a senior undergraduate forensic science student, have put their collective heads together to solve one of the world’s biggest problems.
Global food security.
More specifically, microbial contamination.
Together, they have focused on rice (a critical staple food across the world) and methods to “detect and mitigate” the impact of pathogens potentially devastating the crop and/or its consumers.
This research was made possible by a summer internship with the Department of Homeland Security.
This internship involved team collaboration with the aim of developing “pioneering techniques in biofortification.” The team focused on nanoparticles in food to address microbial contamination.
Through a series of laboratory experiments, these researchers identified certain nanoparticles that were highly effective at inhibiting bacterial growth.
“Our study found that nano fortification using zinc oxide and magnesium oxide nanoparticles was the most effective,” said Gonzalez. “These nanoparticles significantly inhibited E. coli growth by disrupting the cell membranes and metabolic processes. We compared these with ionic forms like magnesium sulfate and zinc sulfate and found that the nanoparticles outperformed the ionic forms in preventing bacterial growth.”
This research could revolutionize food safety standards and techniques to prevent microbial contamination from entering the food supply.
As it also involves Department of Homeland Security funding, the research aims to provide “advanced solutions to address bioterrorism threats” as well.
Unless you are in the field, you may be wondering what exactly is a nanoparticle.
From the name, it sounds like something very very small.
They are, in fact, very, very, very small!
They often include only a few hundred atoms. The size of a nanoparticle can range from 1 to 100 nanometres.
Here we go again with the “nano.”
For reference, a nanometer (nm) is one-thousandth of a micrometer (µm). It is also one-billionth of a meter.
So, certainly it is very, very, very, very, small. So small in fact, that I probably couldn’t put an accurate number of “verys” on this post.
These nanoparticles are obviously too small to see with the naked human eye. Specialized microscopes (nanoscopes?) are necessary.
In addition to size, these nanoparticles behave differently than their normal sized, larger material counterparts.
In addition to being able to get into just about anywhere you want them to go, assuming you have a method to get them there, nanoparticles have several key benefits.
The biggest benefit is their surface area to volume ratio. Compared to their bulk material counterparts, nanoparticles have a much larger surface area. This can affect how a mass of them is optically perceived, how they physically or chemically behave, and even contribute to their quantum effects.
While the application of nanoparticles on food is a novel use of the technology, nanoparticles have been around for a while.
Nanoparticles have been useful in drug delivery systems in the healthcare industry for a while. For example, nanoparticles have been used in chemotherapy to deliver drugs directly to cancerous growths or to deliver medication to damaged arteries to fight cardiovascular disease.
Carbon nanotubes have been used in the aerospace industry on aircraft wings. Nanotubes designed to respond to electric voltage have been used.
In addition to using zinc oxide nanowires for flexible solar cells, nanomaterials have also been used to treat polluted water.
Mineral nanoparticles, like titanium oxide, are currently used in sunscreen. These nanoparticles offer improved UV protection without the whitening effects traditional sunscreen imparts.
Baseball bats made up of carbon nanotubes have been used to make them lighter and better performing. Towels and mats embedded with antimicrobial nanotechnology have been used in the industry to reduce illnesses caused by bacteria.
Potential downline benefits for using nanoparticles on food to protect the U.S. food supply could become an normal part of future growing practices.
“This research supports the development of stricter food safety standards that incorporate advanced technology to protect against microbial contamination and bioterrorism threats,” said Sharifan. “Regulatory bodies could consider nanofortification as part of agricultural practices, which could enhance resilience against such threats.”
Along the way, the team encountered and overcame several challenges.
The biggest hurdle involved getting the nanoparticles on food.
“One of the main challenges was developing the best practice for sterilizing our bacterial rice grains,” said Dr. Sharifin. “We also needed to find a way to uniformly apply different types of nanoparticles and their ionic forms to the rice grains while inoculating them with bacteria to test their growth and resiliency.”
Several replications were performed to validate the results and ensure reproducibility of their process.
While the team anticipates their research will be published to the academic community soon, the process can be lengthy and trying. However, Wilson and Gonzalez are optimistic about what they have discovered and the applications and impact it will have on food safety standards.
If you’d like to know more about food safety topics in the news, like “Nanoparticles on Food May Be the Future of Food Safety,” check out the Make Food Safe Blog. We regularly update trending topics, foodborne infections in the news, recalls, and more! Stay tuned for quality information to help keep your family safe, while The Lange Law Firm, PLLC strives to Make Food Safe!
By: Heather Van Tassell (contributing writer, non-lawyer)