Abstract: Natural edible spices not only provide unique flavor quality to foods, but also have significant potential in promoting human health and disease prevention due to their bioactive components. This article provides a comprehensive overview of the major functional activities of natural edible spices, including promoting digestion, controlling blood glucose, lowering cholesterol, enhancing immunity, and antimicrobial activity. It discusses the potential roles of bioactive components such as phenolics, terpenes, carotenoids, and flavonoids in the prevention and treatment of various diseases. Additionally, this article discusses the application of natural edible spices in the food and healthcare industries and summarizes the extraction and analytical techniques used for identifying their active components through. Finally, it highlights the current research challenges and future directions, such as in-depth insights into the mechanism of action of bioactive substances in natural edible spices, development of novel natural spices, and safety assessment of long-term consumption. As research on natural edible spices has progressed, they are expected to play an increasingly important role in promoting public health and driving innovation in the food industry.

Key words: natural edible spices; functional activity; mechanism; application; challenge