Nutraceutical is a neologism derived from “nutrition” and “pharmaceutical.” Compounds defined as nutraceuticals are those nutrients contained in foods with beneficial health effects. They can be of plant or animal origin and are considered a group of pharmacologically active substances with therapeutic properties.
The molecules of natural origin contained in nutraceuticals represent a source of highly diversified active compounds with multiple applications. Some of them have been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine, and thus their positive and negative health effects are known. For others, however, less information is available, and their characterization is extremely important for the development of new drugs and nutraceuticals, where it is important to know the health effects of both the main components and any contaminants from the extraction of compounds from natural matrices.
To address this need, S.A.F.AN. BIOINFORMATICS has developed two computational technologies that allow the characterization of molecules (SAFAN-ISPSM) and peptides (SAFAN-ISPPEPT) by predicting their interactions with a panel of 4,500 proteins involved in metabolic processes, providing useful and necessary information to identify potential new uses of the analyzed molecules and their related side effects.
The database resulting from the application of these technologies to compounds of natural origin or contaminants will provide important indications to companies in the food and pharmaceutical sectors for evaluating the efficacy and safety of their products.
