Nutraceuticals is a broad term which describes any substance extracted from food sources with additional health benefits along with the basic nutritional value already present in them. They act non specifically to promote general well-being of the individuals and also to control and prevent virulent conditions. The term “nutraceutical” combines two words–“nutrient” (a nourishing food component) and “pharmaceutical” (a medical drug) The name was coined in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine, an American organization located in Cranford, New Jersey. They have remarkable role in human nutrition which has recently become one of the most important areas of investigation.

Categories of Nutraceuticals

These can be grouped into the following three broad categories:

1. Substances with established nutritional functions, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids and fatty acids – Nutrients

2. Herbs or botanical products as concentrates and extracts – Herbals

3. Reagents derived from other sources (e.g. pyruvate, chondroitin sulphate, steroid hormone precursors) serving specific functions, such as sports nutrition, weight-loss supplements and meal replacements – Dietary supplements.

Benefits of Nutraceuticals

Since years, nutraceuticals have played an important role in the overall well-being of humans. Several bioactive molecules are being identified to possess health benefits which continue to garner research interest so that safe and cost-effective molecules can be discovered for oral administration.

uture Prospects

The production of nutraceuticals is emerging as one of the major global food industries as it gives rise to improved healthcare and increased life expectancy. Since large number of medicinal herbs, spices and trees are found in India, it is becoming a major producer and exporter of functional foods and nutraceuticals. Currently, research is being focused on traditional herbal extracts which were earlier linked with prevention of chronic diseases and health enhancement along with the establishment of their safety and efficacy.

The role of nutraceuticals in the prevention of various diseases is not necessarily due to a single compound, but due to the cumulative effect of several components present in the product. Therefore, it is important to conduct biomarker research for the comparison of preventative effects for different kinds of food. Moreover, standards should also be established to assess the prevention of diseases. New products can be developed by the recognition of variation in functional food and nutraceuticals composition for specialized markets which can lead to the production of plants with biochemically uniform produce having highly predictable health and nutritional properties. Measures should be taken to decrease the costs of the functional foods to the industry by finding new methods to isolate, characterize and purify them from various sources. Better characterization of the products is needed to optimize the benefits to human and animal health by the application of modern approaches in genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. Public awareness about the health promoting effects and value added properties of food products can help in the expansion of the global market.