Enhanced nutraceutical functions of herbal oily extract employing formulation technology: The present and future

Background

In spite of attractive nutraceutical functions, herbal products for oral use have many drawbacks, including poor oral-absorption and storage stability, leading to limited usability and efficacy. Considerable attention has been drawn to formulation studies on herbal materials for improvement of biopharmaceutical and nutraceutical properties. The aim of this review is to provide an illustrative overview of industrial and academic formulation researches on herbal materials for overcoming their problems.

Methods

The literature search was conducted for recent findings in the development of herbal formulations with enhanced nutraceutical effects.

Results

A number of formulations have been applied to herbal materials, includes emulsions, self-emulsifying drug delivery systems, liposomes, solid nanostructured particles, solid dispersions, and cyclodextrin-complexation. These formulation strategies can provide improved dissolution properties and oral absorption, a wide safety margin, better handling, and/or enhanced storage stability, possibly resulting in higher product values. Whereas nutraceutical properties have a higher priority, the selection of a suitable formulation would also be necessary for each herbal extract, considering manufacturability, safety concerns, and usability. Herbal medicines still include many unknowns for daily use, and evidence on some nutraceutical properties is insufficient; therefore, they should continue to be researched in more detail.

Conclusion

Strategic use of formulation approaches might provide a bright future for self-medication with herbal products.