Topic overview

Start with the big picture

Pharmacognosy supports nutraceutical development by combining botanical identification, phytochemical analysis, and ethnomedicinal knowledge. It helps guide plant selection, establish markers for standardization, profile constituents to assess purity or detect adulteration, and support quality and safety evaluation. Within this broader context, nutraceuticals and functional foods are classified according to their form and intended use. Dietary supplements provide concentrated nutrients or botanicals in products such as capsules, tablets, or powders, taken in addition to the normal diet. Functional foods are conventional foods eaten as part of meals that offer benefits beyond basic nutrition. Medical foods are formulated for disease management under medical supervision. These distinctions provide a starting framework for understanding product categories and their place in nutraceutical science.