Recent advances in natural products chemistry and phytomedicine research has been aimed at novel lipid based drug delivery systems. Herbosome technology is one of such systems that incorporate phospholipids into standardized active ingredients of herbal extracts, thus effectively enhancing the bioavailability of water-soluble bioactive constituents of phytomedicines such as flavonoids, phenolics and hydrophilic compounds. These phytoconstituents have been established to exhibit a variety of biological activities that have pharmacological benefits. However, poor absorption of these phytoconstituents limits their bioavailability. The poor absorption is principally due to the failure of these constituents to reach their site of action before being degraded as well as their inability to pass through the small intestine due to their multi ring structures and the lipid nature of the intestinal wall. This review chronicles the recent advances made in herbosome technology, highlighting the concepts, applications and future perspective of herbosome use.
Key words: Herbosomes, Phytomedicine, Lipid based delivery systems, Phytosomes, Phyto-phospholipid complex.