"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food-Hippocrates.Food forms a quintessential entity for life. Beyond a power source, food stands to define culture, belief, taste and also holds a huge impact on one's physiology and psychological well-being. The age old wisdom and concept of food as medicine has lost its charm and essence with the promises of immediate cure through synthetic drugs. The quality of soil is compromised by chemical fertilizers resulting in poor yield, this coupled with unethical practices of fruit ripening and use of adulterants reduce the freshness and health quotient of the food products. The synergy of modernization, fast life & food have made humans to inculcate unhealthy food habits, wherein studies indicate an increase in diseases caused due to nutritional deficiencies ranging from psychological disorders to cancer. The new trend in the research community with respect to food technology and health is to identify and utilise physiologically active components from both plants (phytochemicals) and animals (zoochemicals) as potential medicines or energy boosts. The increasing awareness of health and the demand for healthy food along with technological advances and changes in food regulations has led to the creation of “functional foods.” The concept was initiated in Japan as a measure to control health care costs & improve health of the nationals by establishing a regulatory system to approve certain foods with documented health benefits.

Even though there is no universally accepted definition, the National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition Board defines functional foods as “any modified food or food ingredient that may provide a health benefit beyond the traditional nutrients it contains” whereas The International Life Sciences Institute defines them as “foods that, by virtue of the presence of physiologically-active components, provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition”. At times this term, is referred as “nutraceuticals, which was coined by the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine. Nutraceuticals stand to represent any bioactive component that delivers a health benefit which could be concentrated and are administered in dosages to provide health benefits. The energetic researchers at Somaiya Vidyavihar dedicated to this stream of research tries to blend concepts of traditional Ayurveda & modern food technology to develop quality functional foods. Faculty and students belonging to Departments of Nutraceutical, Microbiology and Biochemistry have developed a range of products from appetizer enhancer to immunity boosters."