Extraction Methods of Natural Products from Traditional Chinese Medicines

Abstract

In recent years, many research activities have focused on Natural Products (NPs) derived from Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), thus making a renaissance in the drug discovery process of TCMs. Maximizing the diversity of extracts from those plants is the key for the chemical biology process. Methods for the preparation and pretreatment of plant extracts are very important for further purification and discovery of active compounds present in minor quantities. In this chapter, two methods of extraction, including one of the most broadly applicable method (solvent extraction) and one newly developed technique (supercritical fluid extraction), have been described in detail.