Micronization and nanosizing of particles for an enhanced quality of food: A review

Size reduction to micron to nanosize range is rapidly developing technology applied to foods in the recent decades. This article reviews the particle size reducing technologies for solid particulate and liquid materials. For solid particulate materials, the jet milling, ball milling and colloid milling are mainly used. For liquid materials, primarily the high pressure homogenization, ultrasonic homogenization and microfluidization technologies are used. Due to the reduction in particle size, micron- and nanotechnology significantly enhance the physico-chemical and functional characteristics of food materials, resulting in the improvement of food quality.