Background The growing global interest in Ayurveda-inspired functional foods highlights the immense potential of fifteen plant-based therapeutics. However, translating these botanicals into evidence-based nutraceuticals is often constrained by phytochemical variability, formulation complexities, and a lack of rigorous clinical validation. Scope and approach This review critically evaluates 15 high-value botanicals used in Ayurvedic and functional food systems by integrating their nutritional, phytochemical, and pharmacological profiles. We employ machine-learning-based clustering to categorise these botanicals into functional groups, facilitating rational, synergistic formulation design. Furthermore, we assess advances in delivery systems, quality-control strategies, and current regulatory frameworks for multi-herb products. Key findings and conclusions These botanicals demonstrate robust antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardiometabolic activities driven by diverse secondary metabolites. Machine learning analysis delineates four functional clusters: polyphenol-dense antioxidants, volatile oil-rich antimicrobials, nutrient-rich metabolic regulators, and adaptogenic immunomodulators. Effectively translating these into composite nutraceuticals requires advanced delivery platforms such as nanoemulsions, liposomes, and phytosomes to overcome inherent bioavailability limitations. Despite promising preclinical evidence, successful commercialization requires rigorous multi-omics profiling, long-term clinical trials, and global regulatory harmonisation to ensure the safety, stability, and standardised efficacy of botanical nutraceuticals.
Background Food processing can significantly impact immune responses to foods by modifying protein, peptide, and phytochemical structures. The conventional thermal processes used for microbial safety are generally destructive to heat-sensitive bioactive components and increase allergenicity while decreasing beneficial immunomodulatory activities due to neoantigen formation through protein denaturation and Maillard-type modifications. Scope and approach The study investigates the effect of non-thermal processing methods on the structural conformation of immune-sensitive food proteins, which retain heat-sensitive bioactives, and the maintenance of the structural conformation of immune-relevant food components, which include ultrasound, high-pressure processing, pulsed electric field, cold plasma, ultraviolet light, pulsed light, and irradiation. It examines how these technologies reduce neoepitope formation, modulate antigen presentation, and the immune response. It further discusses the mechanisms by which the non-thermal effects on the unfolding, aggregation, and glycation of proteins are studied, and how these effects lead to reduced IgE-binding and down-regulated pro-inflammatory signaling in vitro and in vivo. Comparative findings on thermal processing are also presented. Key findings and conclusion Non-thermal technologies are a promising approach for lowering IgE reactivity of some food allergens. However, the evidence is primarily biochemical; there is not much data from animals and humans, and findings may depend on protein, matrix, and treatment conditions. Some of the key challenges are discussed, including the technological constraints, scale-up, regulatory framework, safety assessment, and costs. Lastly, research gaps and future directions are outlined, with particular emphasis on personalized nutrition strategies for immune health and hybrid processing. These technologies may enable food design to maintain heat-labile bioactives while modifications to allergen conformation intentionally reduce neoantigenicity, subject to confirmation of clinical benefits.
