Nutraceuticals: Facts And Future

The word nutraceutical is the hybrid of ‘Nutrition’ and ‘Pharmaceutical’. “Nutraceutical” is a term which was coined by Stephen DeFelice in 1979. It is defined as “a food or parts of food that provide medical or health benefits, including the prevention and treatment of disease.”

- Loveleen Kaur Sarao and Ajay Singh

Nutraceuticals may range from isolated nutrients, herbal products, dietary supplements and diets to genetically engineered “designer” foods and processed products such as cereals, soups, and beverages (Sakthivelet al, 2012).A nutraceutical is any non-toxic food extract supplement that has scientifically proven health benefits for both the treatment and prevention of disease. Nutraceuticals also refer to natural functional/medical foods or bioactive phytochemicals that have health-promoting, disease-preventing or medicinal properties. These nutraceuticals in general contain vitamins, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, or other necessary nutrients (Zeisel, 1999 and Whitman. 2001). Nutraceuticals are products which are derived from food sources with a purpose to provide extra health benefits, besides the basic nutritional value found in foods. These products prevent chronic diseases, improve health, delay the aging process, increase life expectancy, or support the structure or function of the body (Singh and Sinha, 2012).