Nutraceuticals: A Review on current status

Nutraceuticals refers to foods having a medicinal effect on health of human beings. It consist of food supplements, herbal products, probiotics and prebiotics, medical foods meant for prevention and treatment of diseases. Major nutraceuticals posses multiple therapeutic effect with lacking of unwanted effects hence attract more consumer interest. Increase in shift towards preventive therapies and increasing disposable income, favorable pricing environment growth in pharma retail chain and increase in healthcare spending is mainly responsible for increasing market for nutraceuticals in India, but lack of standardization and awareness, high pricing, marketing and distribution are some challenges. Nutraceutical market is seeing tidal growth mainly in United States, India and European countries. Faster access to this market is possible through business partnership models, effective regulatory compliance and by evaluating key trends and consumer reference.