Active ingredient

An active ingredient (AI) is the ingredient in a pharmaceutical drug that is biologically active. The similar terms active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and bulk active are also used in medicine, and the term active substance may be used for natural products. Some medication products may contain more than one active ingredient. The traditional word for the API is pharmacon or pharmakon (from Greek:φάρμακον, adapted from pharmacos) which originally denoted a magical substance or drug.