The current review emphasizes on the herbal
bioenhancers which themselves do not possess inherent pharmacological activity of their own but when co-administered with
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), enhances their bioavailability and efficacy. Herbal
bioenhancers play a crucial role in enhancing the bioavailability and bioefficacy of different classes of drugs, such as
antihypertensives, anticancer,
antiviral, antitubercular and antifungal drugs at low doses. This paper highlights various natural compounds that can be utilized as an efficient
bioenhancer. Several herbal compounds including
piperine,
quercetin,
genistein,
naringin,
sinomenine,
curcumin, and
glycyrrhizin have demonstrated capability to improve the pharmacokinetic parameters of several potent API. This article also focuses on various United States patents on herbal
bioenhancers, which has proved to be beneficial in improving oral absorption of nutraceuticals like
vitamins, minerals,
amino acids and certain herbal compounds. The present paper also describes proposed mechanism of action, which mainly includes absorption process, drug metabolism, and action on drug target. The herbal
bioenhancers are easily available, safe, free from side effects, minimizes
drug toxicity, shortens the
duration of treatment, lowers the drug resistance problems and minimizes the cost of treatment. Inspite of the fact that herbal
bioenhancers provide an innovative concept for enhancing the bioavailability of several potent drugs, there are numerous
bioenhancers of herbal origin that are yet to be explored in several vital areas. These
bioenhancers must also be implied to enhance the bioavailability and bioefficacy through routes other than the oral route of drug delivery. There is a vast array of unexploited plants which can be investigated for their drug bioenhancing potency. The toxicity profiles of these herbal
bioenhancers must not be overlooked. Researches must be carried out to solve these issues and to deliver a safe and effective dose of drugs to attain desired pharmacological response.