Advanced development in analysis of phytochemicals from medicine and food dual purposes plants used in China.

The concept of "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" was widely accepted for thousand years. It is now well known that some foods and food components have beneficial physiological and psychological effects. In China, the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China announced 87 items of materials, including 81 plants, could be used as both medicine and food. Increasing consumer demand for safety and health benefits, it is of critical importance to have high-quality and comprehensive data on bioactive compounds (phytochemicals) in these materials. In this review, we summarized the advanced development (2006-2010) in analysis of phytochemicals from medicine and food dual purposes plants (MFDPP) used in China.