Cocrystallization of Nutraceuticals

Cocrystallization has emerged over the past decade as an attractive technique for modification of the physicochemical properties of compounds used as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), complementing more traditional methods such as salt formation. Nutraceuticals, with associated health benefits and/or medicinal properties, are attractive as coformers due to their ready availability, known pharmacological profile, and natural origin, in addition to offering a dual therapy approach. Successful studies of favorably altering the physicochemical properties of APIs through cocrystallization with nutraceuticals are highlighted in this review. Many of the key functional groups commonly seen in nutraceuticals (e.g., acids, phenols) underpin robust supramolecular synthons in crystal engineering. This review assesses the structural data available to date across a diverse range of nutraceuticals, both in pure form and in multicomponent materials, and identifies the persistent supramolecular features present. This insight will ultimately enable predictive and controlled assembly of functional materials incorporating nutraceuticals together with APIs.