Editor's Note

NMR spectroscopy is one of the most powerful chemical analytical tools, and it is widely used for characterization and structure determination of natural products. NMR spectra can provide a wealth of accurate qualitative and quantitative information even regarding the components of complex mixtures, such as a plant extracts. NMR has therefore become one of the most useful analytical techniques for analyzing botanical materials and is growing in popularity and utility as a quality control tool in the herbal products industry. Unlike most other analytical techniques NMR quantification can be conducted without using chemically identical standard reference compounds, and offers other advantages such as simple sample preparation which does not destroy the sample, and the ability to simultaneously detect and quantify a large number of chemical compounds with high reproducibility. Authors here discuss the advantages and disadvantages of NMR, compared with other techniques for analysis of botanicals including HPTLC, GC/MS, HPLC/UV, and HPLC/MS. The researchers provide an overview of the potential applications of NMR methodologies in basic and clinical botanical research and in quality control of botanical health products, and also encourage other researchers to recognize and adopt NMR techniques for characterizing botanical materials.  
Abstract

Botanicals have played an important role in maintaining human health and well-being throughout history. During the past few decades in particular, the use of botanical health products has gained more popularity. Whereas, quality, safety and efficacy concerns have continuously been critical issues due to the intrinsic chemical complexity of botanicals. Chemical analytical technologies play an imperative role in addressing these issues. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has proven to be a powerful and useful tool for the investigation of botanical health products. In this review, NMR techniques and methodologies that have been successfully applied to the research and development of botanical health products in all stages, from plants to products, are discussed and summarized. Furthermore, applications of NMR together with other analytical techniques in a variety of domains of botanical health products investigation, such as plant species differentiation, adulteration detection, and bio-activity evaluation, are discussed and illustrated with typical examples. This article provides an overview of the potential uses of NMR techniques and methodologies in an attempt to further promote their recognition and utilization in the field of botanical health products analysis and quality control.
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