Nanosilver in the food sector: Prospects and challenges

The supply of increasing demand for fresh and healthy food is one of the most challenging issues facing modern food industries. Recently, nanotechnology has had a significant impact on this area in terms of safeguarding food through packaging, processing, increasing neutralization value, extending food shelf life, and making waste biodegradable in nature. Silver nanomaterials, such as nanosensors, nanoemulsions, nanopesticides, and nanocapsules, can improve food packaging's mechanical strength, gas barrier qualities, water-repellent capabilities, and antibacterial and scavenging activities. This chapter focuses on different synthetic pathways, namely chemical, physical, and biological routes for functionalized silver nanoparticles and their antimicrobial activities on food packaging, and describes its risks to the environment and human life.