Abstract

NUTRACEUTICAL IS THE NEED OF HOUR

Md Faruque Ahmad*^1a,b, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad², ZR Azaz Ahmad Azad^1a,Md. Sarfaraz Alam³, Syed Amir Ashraf⁴

^1aDepartment of Food Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences,Hamdard University, New Delhi, India

^1bDepartment of Clinical Nutrition, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Jazan University,Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

²Medical Center, MOI, Tabouk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)

³College of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, (KSA)

⁴Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Hail,(KSA).

ABSTRACT

Nutraceutical was developed because of medicine's growing awareness of the health promoting effects of foods and food constituents and to establish a clear link between 'nutrients' and 'pharmaceuticals. Although by definition nutraceuticals are classed as food products, use of the term nutraceutical and the claims attributed to the properties of the product have lead to some confusion as to whether nutraceuticals should be classed as medicinal products. All therapeutic areas such as anti-arthritic, pain killers, cold and cough, sleeping disorders, digestion and prevention of certain cancers, osteoporosis, blood pressure, cholesterol, depression and diabetes have been covered by nutraceuticals. The greatest scientific need in nutraceuticals pertains to standardization of compounds and/or products, to carefully develop and execute clinical studies/trials to provide the basis for health claims for nutraceuticals that impact consumers as well as companies making strategic investments.

Keywords: Nutraceutical, global regulatory scenario, market and demand.