Abstract

NUTRACEUTICAL AS FUNCTIONAL FOODS

Kirti Rani*, Nayyar Parvez and Pramod Kumar Sharma

Abstract

Nutraceuticals are a diverse product category with various synonyms used internationally. Nutraceutical is recognized as a linguistic combination of “nutrient” and “pharmaceutical” and is accepted as “Any substance that may be considered a food or part of a food and provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease.” Nutraceuticals have received considerable interest because of their presumed safety and potential nutritional and therapeutic effects. By using nutraceuticals, it may be possible to reduce or eliminate the need for conventional medications, reducing the chances of any adverse effect. Nutraceuticals often possess unique chemical actions that are unavailable in pharmaceuticals. Nutrients, herbals and dietary supplements are major constituents of nutraceutical which make them instrumental in maintaining health, act against various disease conditions and thus promote the quality of life. Nutraceuticals are a diverse product category with various synonyms that are used internationally. Nutraceuticals create an open environment for new products that promise novel solutions to health‐related issues. Nutraceuticals will play important role in future therapeutic developments. This current review article is to examine the impact of Nutraceuticals as an alternative treatment for different types of disease. In these scenario natural products (nutraceutical) play vital role which is plant based. The term of Nutraceuticals was coined by Dr. Stephen Defelice in 1989. This article briefly discusses about the basic information about the nutraceutical and its importance.

Keywords: Nutraceuticals, Functional foods, Used in the treatment of different diseases.