A numerous novel drug delivery system has been emerged by combining herbal medicine with nanotechnology to administer drugs encompassing the enhancement of compatibility and efficacy. The herbal phytoconstituents are compatible compared to the chemical active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). But the therapeutic consequence of the phytoconstituent is limited due to poor aqueous solubility. Therefore, the demand to develop a system which improves the solubility of the phytomedicine is mounting rapidly. Nanotechnology plays a vital role in increasing the solubility, enhancing the bioavailability and improving the drug specificity of bioactive constituents. Nanosystems such as liposomes, nanoparticles, phytosomes, ethosomes, nanoemulsions and solid lipid nanoparticles are used to deliver the bioactive constituent at an adequate dose to the site of action and during the entire treatment period. The current review discusses the various novel drug delivery systems which have been developed to attain better therapeutic response of the herbal drug.

Targeting the tumor tissues in oncotherapeutics is attracting more attention worldwide for the past three decades. The exigent need to reduce the side effects of the drugs presses the need for the advancements in the targeting therapies and better alternative to the conventional chemotherapies. The effective bio compatible bioactive compounds that are appropriate substitutes to the conventional anti-cancer drugs face the difficulty in being transported across the cell membrane as they are hydrophilic. In this article the nano vesicular drug delivery system, one of the well-received approaches for targeted drug delivery is reviewed, more specifically the phytosomes. Phytosomes are the unique class of vesicular drug delivery systems that carry the plant derived bio active compounds across the cell membrane. Phytosomes are micelles capable of encapsulating the plant extracts in the core and conjugating the targeting proteins on the outer surface. Vesicular drug delivery systems in common are passive targeting drug carriers by evading the immune system. But in the case of tumor therapy, due to enhanced permeation and retention effect the phytosomes that are more than 40 kDa and a nano-metric size range of 100–1200 nm target the tumor cells actively. Passive targeting increases the bioavailability of the drugs and the active targeting specifically delivers the drugs in the site of action are coupled in phytosomes to deliver the bioactive compounds. In this review, the synthesis, properties and drug encapsulation and delivery mechanisms of the phytosomes are discussed.