Food Microbiology and the Application of Nanotechnology in Food Processing and Safety

The engineering of functional units of tiny particles of nanoscale size is known as nanotechnology. It is a branch of science and technology that designs and synthesizes particles in the nano range. The nanomolecules formed in this technology are found to have vital roles in different fields of science. This technology has many applications in the field of biological science like in medicine, environmental science, ecology, agriculture, and others. Microbiology is a branch of biological science that deals with microbes from single-celled organisms like bacteria to multicellular organisms like algae, fungi, etc., and also studies the roles of these organisms in different field like synthesis of vaccines, production of fermented products, their roles in agriculture and other fields, and also different diseases caused by these microbes. Food microbiology is one of a branch of microbiology that carries out the study of the usage of microbial organisms in food technology, food hygiene and safety, food genomics, and functional food and probiotics. This chapter is about food microbiology and the role of this newly emerged fast-growing technology in processing food and maintaining the quality of food and safety. It will also highlight its role in the food industry like in targeting nanoparticles, flavoring, enhancing the shelf life of the food, detecting contamination, improving in storage of the food, and introducing antibacterial nanoparticles in the food and prospects.