Nutraceuticals are the nourishing components (hybrid of nutrition and pharmaceuticals) that are biologically active and possess capability for maintaining optimal health and benefits. These products play a significant role in human health care and its endurance, most importantly for the future therapeutic development. Nutraceuticals have received recognition due to their nutritional benefits along with therapeutic effects and safety profile. Nutraceuticals are globally growing in the field of services such as health care promotion, disease reduction, etc. Various drug nutraceutical interactions have also been elaborated with various examples in this review. Several patents on nutraceuticals in agricultural applications and in various diseases have been stated in the last section of review, which confirms the exponential growth of nutraceuticals’ market value. Nutraceuticals have been used not only for nutrition but also as a support therapy for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, such as to reduce side effects of cancer chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Diverse novel nanoformulation approaches tend to overcome challenges involved in formulation development of nutraceuticals. Prior information on various interactions with drugs may help in preventing any deleterious effects of nutraceuticals products. Nanotechnology also leads to the generation of micronized dietary products and other nutraceutical supplements with improved health benefits. In this review article, the latest key findings (clinical studies) on nutraceuticals that show the therapeutic action of nutraceutical’s bioactive molecules on various diseases have also been discussed.

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Polymers have been widely used for the development of drug delivery systems accommodating the regulated release of therapeutic agents in consistent doses over a long period, cyclic dosing, and the adjustable release of both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs. Nowadays, polymer blends are increasingly employed in drug development as they generate more promising results when compared to those of homopolymers. This review article describes the recent research efforts focusing on the utilization of chitosan blends with other polymers in an attempt to enhance the properties of chitosan. Furthermore, the various applications of chitosan blends in drug delivery are thoroughly discussed herein. The literature from the past ten years was collected using various search engines such as ScienceDirect, J-Gate, Google Scholar, PubMed, and research data were compiled according to the various novel carrier systems. Nanocarriers made from chitosan and chitosan derivatives have a positive surface charge, which allows for control of the rate, duration, and location of drug release in the body, and can increase the safety and efficacy of the delivery system. Recently developed nanocarriers using chitosan blends have been shown to be cost-effective, more efficacious, and prolonged release carriers that can be incorporated into suitable dosage forms.

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Skin fungal infection is still a serious public health problem due to the high number of cases. Even though medicines are available for this disease, drug resistance among patients has increased. Moreover, access to medicine is restricted in some areas. One of the therapeutic options is herbal medicine. This study aims to develop an ethosome formulation loaded with Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Smith. rhizome extract for enhanced antifungal activity in deep layer skin, which is difficult to cure. Ethosomes were successfully prepared by the cold method, and the optimized formulation was composed of 1% (w/v) phosphatidylcholine and 40% (v/v) ethanol. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) images revealed that the ethosomes had a vesicle shape with a diameter of 205.6–368.5 nm. The entrapment of ethosomes was 31.58% and could inhibit the growth of Candida albicans at a concentration of 312.5 μg/mL. Finally, the ethosome system significantly enhanced the skin penetration and retention of the active compound (zerumbone) compared with the liquid extract. This study showed that Z. zerumbet (L.) rhizome extract could be loaded into ethosomes. The findings could be carried over to the next step for clinical application by conducting further in vivo penetration and permeation tests.