Nanoscience in food and agriculture: research,industries and patents

High population rise and climate changes are increasing issues of agricultural production and food safety. Nanotechnology is finding revolutionary applications to improve agricultural and food systems, notably for better crop production and food preservation. Here we review research, industrial and patent trends of nanoscience in food and agriculture. In a literature survey, we found 44.6% publications in the nano-food research area during the years 2013–2015 and 59.09% publications in the nano-agriculture research area during 2012–2015. USA is leading in the development of nanotechnology firms with a maximum share of 75.5% of the total firms, followed by Germany and France with 8.10 and 4.74%, respectively. USA is leading in the nano-food research with 22 granted patents, whereas China is placed first in nano-agriculture research with 28 granted patents during assessment years 2011–2015. Nano-food research focused mainly on nano-food packaging with 76.84% contributions, whereas in nano-agriculture research, focus has been on nano-fertilizers with 90% contributions. Germany, France, Korea, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovak republic have more than 20% of dedicated nanotechnology firms. A growth of about 45% in nano-food patents has been observed for USA during 2011–2015, and China is leading in the nano-agriculture patents with an increase of 60.7% during 2012–2015.