Nutraceuticals have received considerable interest because of their presumed safety and potential nutritional and therapeutic effects. Nutraceuticals are food or part of food that provides medical or health benefits including the prevention and/or treatment of diseases. Nutraceuticals are the natural bioactive, chemical compounds that have health promoting, disease preventing or medicinal properties. Nutraceuticals are substances which are not traditionally recognized nutrients but which have positive physiological effects on the human body. Nutrients, herbals and dietary supplements are major constituents of Nutraceuticals on the basis of their natural source, chemical grouping, categories which make them instrumental in maintaining health, act against various disease conditions like Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease, obesity disease, cancer etc. and thus promote the quality of life. Nutraceuticals create an open environment for novel products that promise novel solutions to health related issues. Nutraceuticals will play significant role in future therapeutic developments. The present article has been devoted towards better understanding of the basic concepts in general