Advancement in extraction and phytochemical analysis of medicinal plants: A review

Medicinal plants are a real gift of nature to human beings and have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Medicinal plants possess a vast array of biologically active compounds, rendering them invaluable resources for maintaining health for the majority of the world’s population. Moreover, they serve as crucial resources in the research of alternative new drug active ingredients. The development and utilization of medicinal plants has become a hot research topic in recent years. Extracting compounds from these plants forms the cornerstone of natural product research. There is a relentless effort to improve and discover better extraction technologies that are more efficient and cost-effective. Phytochemical analysis is essential to determine the biological activity of new therapeutic drugs through the analysis and identification of the extracted chemical components, as well as the qualitative and quantitative determination of the main active ingredients in medicinal plants. This review aims to discuss the current extraction technology and analysis methods of phytochemical components, providing a reference for the research and development of medicinal plants.