In the manufacture of dietary supplements and herbal medicines, it is not always possible to not use excipients.
The purpose of excipients is, among other things, to make the active substances in tablets and capsules stick together, to protect them against degradation from the oxygen in the air, from micro-organisms and from UV radiation, regulate the consistency, improve the taste, make them more swallow-friendly and in some contexts to make the preparation look inviting.
Excipients and E-numbers are not necessarily synonymous with synthetic chemistry. A few examples of this are glycerol (E-422), which is a normal constituent of foods, and pectin (E-440), which is found naturally in fruits and vegetables.
