Background

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to study the molecular structure of biological materials. AFM has become a novel tool that allows measurement of nanomechanical properties of food materials. The importance of evaluating these properties in foods is that the biological functions are closely linked with physical phenomena that occur on the cell surfaces.

Scope and approach

The AFM is a technique that has already been used in the food research community as an efficient tool to evaluate cell mechanics occurring in food materials and it is possible to study the physical phenomena that occur in the cells and tissues of food during its processing and storage. This article presents an overview of the main issues that may arise during the evaluation of mechanical properties by AFM. It may be used as a guideline in order to apply these techniques for foods. A summary of the most recent studies in the nanomechanical properties of food is included.

Key findings and conclusions

AFM has been used to evaluate how nanomechanical phenomena on cell surfaces influence in the quality of food materials, as well as to evaluate the changes that occur at the nanometric scale in food materials due to its processing and storage. The methods to analyze nanomechanical properties in foods are not yet standardized since this is still a rarely used technique for foods. The development and application of techniques for measuring the nanomechanical properties in food materials is necessary. AFM and nanoindentation will be useful tools for the development of food nanotechnology.

中文翻译：

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原子力显微镜在评估食品材料纳米机械性能方面的最新进展

背景

原子力显微镜（AFM）已用于研究生物材料的分子结构。原子力显微镜已成为一种新颖的工具，可用于测量食品材料的纳米机械性能。评价食品中这些特性的重要性在于其生物学功能与细胞表面发生的物理现象密切相关。

范围和方法

AFM是一种已在食品研究界用作评估食品原料中发生的细胞力学的有效工具的技术，并且有可能研究食品在加工和储存过程中在细胞和组织中发生的物理现象。本文概述了通过AFM评估机械性能过程中可能出现的主要问题。可以将其用作将这些技术应用于食品的指南。包括对食品纳米机械性能的最新研究的摘要。

主要发现和结论

原子力显微镜已用于评估细胞表面的纳米机械现象如何影响食品原料的质量，以及评估由于食品原料的加工和储存而在纳米级发生的变化。分析食品中纳米机械性能的方法尚未标准化，因为这仍然是食品中很少使用的技术。测量食品材料中纳米机械性能的技术的开发和应用是必要的。原子力显微镜和纳米压痕将成为发展食品纳米技术的有用工具。