Surface‐Engineered Selenium Nanozymes for Food Safety: Photoregulated Catalysis, Multimodal Antibacterial Mechanisms, and Emerging Applications in Food Processing, Packaging, and Biosensing

ABSTRACT

Selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are increasingly recognized as promising nanozymes for food safety because they combine enzyme‐mimetic catalytic activity, broad‐spectrum antimicrobial effects, and relatively favorable biocompatibility. However, current understanding remains fragmented across materials science, microbiology, and food application research, and a critical synthesis focused on their food‐system relevance is still lacking. This review examines how surface engineering and photoactivation are transforming SeNPs from general antimicrobial nanomaterials into multifunctional platforms for food‐related use. We summarize recent advances in their photodynamic and photocatalytic properties, antibacterial and antibiofilm activities, mechanistic basis, and applications in food packaging, food‐processing environments, and biosensing. Recent studies show that ligand design plays a central role in determining colloidal stability, bacterial affinity, visible‐light responsiveness, catalytic efficiency, and sensing capability. Mechanistically, Se nanozymes act not only through oxidase‐like catalysis and reactive oxygen species generation, but also through membrane disruption, metabolic collapse, extracellular DNA degradation, quorum‐sensing interference, and, in advanced systems, ferroptosis‐like lipid peroxidation. These developments have expanded the potential of SeNPs from microbial control and biofilm eradication to food preservation, process‐water disinfection, contaminant removal, and rapid detection of food‐relevant analytes. Key challenges remain in standardizing synthesis, clarifying structure‐activity relationships, validating performance in real food matrices, and establishing long‐term safety, recovery, and regulatory feasibility. A more mechanism‐oriented and application‐driven framework will be essential for translating Se nanozymes into robust and sustainable food safety technologies.