Application of response surface methodology as mathematical and statistical tools in natural product research

Response Surface Methodology (RSM) models combined with experimental designs became popular in recent years. Their advantages to analyze the interactive effects among different factors and the efficiency considerations encouraged more researchers to conduct natural product research employed with these models. A review about basic principles of factorial designs, central composite designs, Box-Behnken designs, and Doehlert designs which utilized along with the RSM and their applications in natural product research is presented. The objective of this review was to report various experimental design techniques and their applications in the field of natural product research. Furthermore, the characteristic of each design is also presented and the trends of RSM applications in natural product research are also discussed in this paper.