Definition of "bioactive" [bioactive]

• Of or relating to a substance that has an effect on living tissue: bioactive compounds. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Phytochemicals (plant chemicals) are defined as bioactive non-nutrient plant compounds in fruits, vegetables, grains, and other plant foods that have been linked to reducing the risk of major chronic diseases including cancer."
• "I also remember an old discussion on exorphins, defined as bioactive peptides resulting from incomplete protein digestion."
• "A patient's own cells, or in some cases, cells from another adult, are used in conjunction with special drugs called bioactive factors, or with advanced biomaterials that serve as scaffold for growth of new tissues."