India ,which has a  6000 year old tradition in plant , herbal medicines and is a store house of grand mother remedies, is all set for a  nutraceutical revolution. The industry cognoscenti  is quite optimistic  on the potential growth prospects of this sector.

Driven  by changing lifestyle demand, growing consumer  awareness of the concept of “food as medicine”, education, expanded product  offerings, a rapid increase in India's urban population and pharma retail growth,  the Indian nutraceutical market is on a rapid growth trajectory. Further the govt initiatives is also paving way for tapping the global opportunities.

According to some of the industry observers, the major factors which have contributed to the growth of  the Rs.8,000  crore  nutraceutical market are the  ageing population,  changing lifestyle, increasing medical costs, high spending power, awareness of preventive medicine and  increasing malnutrition led diseases.

Especially the increased awareness on the need for dietary supplements is driving the growth in different sectors. With rising medical costs , Indian consumers along with their counterparts the world over have taken to practising preventive healthcare by eating healthy and supplementing the daily diet with essential nutrients. Nutraceuticals have effectively positioned themselves into this space.

Innovation in technology and new process to combine basic nutrients like natural forms of vitamin A in carrots to vitamin C in orange that are being now used to develop enriched beverages.

Nutraceuticals  today has become one of the booming markets in India with fast moving health goods, over the counter and fast moving consumer goods companies jumping into the bandwagon.

This has given  lucrative market opportunities for domestic as well as international pharmaceutical and nutraceutical companies. What gives companies in the fray a competitive edge is branding, pricing, promotional activities and channel partners, say industry observers.

Companies are realizing that nutraceuticals can be used as preventative therapy and also supplement products with consumers increasingly becoming more health conscious and thereby focusing on dietary supplements and health.

According to a Frost & Sullivan study,the total Indian nutraceuticals market which was valued at around  $2 billion for the year 2009, is expected to grow to $5 billion by the year 2015. The market is expected to grow at the rate of 15 to 18% in the coming years. And the latent market in India is estimated  two to four times the current market size, the study adds

 Over the forecast period, the market is expected to witness an increase in competition in the form of top rung global players making a foray into the market. Innovation in ingredients and technology is a current `trend. As the US and EU markets saturate, specifically for categories such as dietary supplements, India is being seen as the road to growth for most global health & wellness players, the study points out.

The optimism of the Indian nutraceutical industry  on the potential  growth prospects emanates from the country’s more than 6,000 years of tradition in the herbal medicine.  China and India are perhaps the two countries endowed with this  inherent strength and on the top of the list. Both the nations have a long and strong traditional background in the science of  of herbal products for wellness and therapy.  Being a store-house of  grandmother remedies, the  scientifically supported medication will allow us to reach markets faster. The nutra industry is food-based and consumer-oriented.  Now India is the focus with its  expertise in the  basics of nutritional  health and the enormous scientific  innovation and strong basic work which are the  back bone, said Dr. V Prakash, former director, Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore,  President, Nutrition Society of India and head Task Force on Nutraceuticals, government of India.

While there is a clear distinction between nutrients and nutraceuticals, the former is naturally present in fruits and vegetable, the latter is extracted bio active compounds developed as a dosage form. Industry needs to cautiously validate claims about such formulations. There are several counter effects when natural nutrients are isolated. This is where, we continue to highlight the food-based approach to source nutraceuticals. Therefore, consumers need to look at a careful intake of carrots to combat vitamin A deficiency or brown rice to get the desired carbohydrates among others. The complex situation is the combination of basic nutrients versus nutraceuticals, he added.

People are becoming health-conscious and are realizing the need for dietary supplements to help them cope with the fast-changing pace of life, which has put them at the risk of diabetes, cholesterol, heart ailments, arthritis and so on, Dr. Kamal G Nath, consultant food scientist & nutritionist, professor & head Department of Food Science & Nutrition, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.

The trend towards preventive healthcare has seen pharma companies diversifying into nutraceuticals. These include GlaxoSmithKline, Abbot,  Ranbaxy, Dabur, Cadila Healthcare, Novartis and Elder Pharma to name a few.

Nutrients, herbals and dietary supplements are major constituents of nutraceuticals which make them instrumental in maintaining health, act against various disease conditions and thus promote the quality of life. They are convenient for today's lifestyle and are natural and bioactive chemical compounds that contain health promoting and disease preventing properties.

With the healthcare segment showing increased focus on nutrition for critical care ,  accident cases, cancer and diabetology-cardiology diseases, there is  immense growth prospects in the field of nutraceuticals,said KC Raghu, managing director Pristine Organics

The negative effects of a  fast paced life is telling on the health of the masses. There is a spurt in life style disorders like diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension resulting out of stress and bad eating habits. Nutraceuticals can  play a major role in controlling many of the modern disorders. Awareness on nutraceuticals make people opt for  protein supplements, multi-mineral supplements, said Dr. K Shanthakumar, professor and scheme head, Foods and Nutrition, Home Science department, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.

CFTRI and Defence Food Research Laboratory which are located in Mysore are engaged in the development of products. A lot of transfer of technology is also being carried out to the industry.

Leading nutraceutical companies in India engaged in the production of products are Herbal Life, Amway, Nestle Nutrition, Sami Labs, British Biologicals, Parrys India, Elder Pharma, Ranbaxy Global Consumer Healthcare, Yakult Danone, Raptakos, Brett & Co. Ltd, Ce Chem, Nouveau Dietetique Led which are  focusing primarily in the areas of nutrition and dietetics.

The  Chennai-based Parry Nutraceuticals which is  recognized as the world leader in Micro Algal Technology for over three  decades, is currently producing Certified Organic Spirulina, Natural Mixed Carotenodis and Astaxanthin from algae.

The Bangalore-based British Biologicals, a dedicated nutraceutical major in the country has an aggressive strategy in place to pursue its future growth efforts. In this connection, the company is focusing on disease- specific nutritional products.

These include sports nutrition division with six brands :X-TRA Whey, Whey Platinum standard, Full Throttle Creatine Monohydrate, X-TRA Mass, Recovery and X-TRA Grainer. All these products are already well accepted and three more brands are being developed. These are Pure Creatine monohydrate, Slim life and an energy sports drink. The company has also started the Criticare Division in collaboration with DSM (USA), a world leader in nutrition, said VS Reddy, chairman and managing director, British Biologicals.

Ce Chem Pharmaceuticals which is a leading pharma enterprise in Karnataka in the small scale  segment is  engaged in the manufacture of nutraceutical products for the domestic market. These include Ziprovit Powder: Ziprolina Capsules and Ziprolina Pediatric syrup. All the products are prescription-driven only.

The nutraceutical products are classified as vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, herbals/ botanicals, proteins and fibres. All these are known to provide health benefits, including prevention and treatment of disease There are many products also made from herbal/ botanical raw materials, referred to as functional foods which help to reduce the risk of chronic disease.

The nutraceutical preparations are easy to prepare and consume. Some of them are in tablet form while others are in powder form which can be mixed with milk or water and can be consumed. There are ingredients like  wheat grass, whey protein, Sat Isabagol (Psylum Husk) and Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, mushroom  which  has to  undergo minimal processing and created in powder form that can be mixed into the bakery products or home used in the conventional home made foods. In these cases the nutraceutical is separated from a food and sold in dosage form.

Sami Labs is giving a major thrust to new product development and market-oriented research in the area of phyto-pharmaceuticals. In the phytopharma industry Sami Labs has been recognized as an “integrated natural” product company with a strong R&D focus. Its research and development focuses on  innovation nutraceuticals, said Muhammed Majeed, chairman and managing director, Sami Labs.

Malted foods market also comes under the nutraceutical product umbrella. The market is open for all age-groups. The products under the segment are Horlicks, Boost, Maltova and Viva from GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. Another player is Cadbury India with its products Bournvita and Complan.

Another growing area of interest is in the development of probiotics. Global players like Nestle and Yakult Danone India have introduced probiotic products. While Nestle markets its probiotic curds, Yakult Danone’s probiotic drink, ‘Yakult’ contains more than 6.5 billion beneficial bacteria.

According to some experts in the field ,it is vital to have interventions  in the form of nutraceuticals and make it a part of our preventive health care systems. For this all stakeholders – the government, industry, academia from food, as well as health fields, need to pool in their efforts to have a national food policy and a national health policy that complement each other.