Nanotechnologies on the Stage: Improving the Role of Nutrients for Well-Being and Special Nutrition Needs

Dear Colleagues,

The application of nanotechnologies in the field of nutrition has recently gained a considerable increase in interest thanks to the enhanced properties that they can provide to food and in general to daily nutrition with the addition of bioactive compounds in nanoformulations. The possibility of providing nutrients in the form of nanoformulations, and its relative advantages, has been applied to functional food components, such as vitamins, phytochemicals, minerals, and antioxidants, that are necessary for optimal human health and disease prevention. Nowadays, nanotechnologies for bioactive substances are not limited, for example, to increased transport capacities of poorly soluble nutraceutical compounds, but in a more forward-looking view, they are important for the incredible role that these conveyed nutrients can have on our well-being and in the needs deriving from specific nutritional requests. If, on the one hand, the research has highlighted that in healthy people a greater state of well-being can be reached by eating specific nutrients, on the other hand, it is known that a general malaise can induce issues related to malabsorption and leads to nutritional deficiency. Special nutrition needs cannot be accomplished by a normal diet, and diseases can prevent some people from achieving their nutritional requirements due to the lack of ability to consume, digest, absorb, metabolize, or excrete ordinary foods. Thus, there has been a recent increase in the demand for foods (or food ingredients) with health benefits beyond providing essential nutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids, natural products, probiotics, etc.), particularly if they are consumed regularly and at a high enough dose. The application of nanotechnology to this field has recently been considered with the aim to improve the featuring of bioactive compounds included in foods: For example, the use of nanocarriers can improve the bioavailability and reduce the concentration of active substances, thus decreasing dose-dependent toxicity and improving the taste of the final product, in addition to efforts made for developing food for special medical purposes. Indeed, the idea of food with health benefits is opposite to dietary supplements that are very similar to drugs in terms of how they are taken. These classes of food are strictly identified and regulated by the FDA and the EMSA beyond the specific legislation of each country and, according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), are globally identified as fortified, enriched, or enhanced foods or foods for special medical purposes (FSMPs). There may be a limit to the inclusion of nutrients or bioactive compounds in food due to their intrinsic properties, for example, their disgusting taste or their inability to be absorbed well by the gastrointestinal tract.

The applications of nanotechnology can provide new insight into the fields of nutrition and food science. However, there is still a long way to go for claims and applications of nanofortificants or other bioactive components to balance the total nutrient profile of a diet, thereby correcting or preventing inadequate nutrient intake and deficiencies. 

The safety concerns of nanomaterials are a prerequisite to be resolved because there are huge gaps in understanding the toxicities of NPs, the interaction of nano-materials with food, and their fate after ingestion.

The purpose of the present Special Issue is to give a picture, as complete as possible, of the more recent research regarding nanoformulations of fortified foods for well-being and special medical purposes, including nanoformulations for supplements (both at the level of basic research, translational research, or applied research), as well as the most relevant guidelines, regulations, and directives in the field. In fact, only a small number of countries have formulated approval guidelines for the application of nanotechnology in the food industry and the issues associated with “nano-labeling” on such food supplements. Regarding the effective delivery of micronutrients, insufficient scientific evidence on the use of nanotechnologies has caused a certain grade of complexity in giving definitive conclusions, and it must be underscored that nanoparticles could have a pivotal role in the prospective expansion of curative and preventive applications for the targeted delivery of micronutrients. Therefore, a more in-depth investigation is currently requested.

Dr. Luciana Dini
Dr. Marco Fidaleo
Guest Editors

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• nutraceutical
• nutrients
• nanocarrier
• nanoformulation
• functional food
• fortified foods
• enriched foods
• foods for special medical purpose
• food guidelines
• food regulation