Recent development in liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and allied topics for traditional Chinese medicine research

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) have been widely used for the prevention and treatment of various diseases for thousands of years in China, due to their less side-effect, proven efficacy and low cost. But the complexity of the components is still a bottleneck for its modernization and globalization. This paper reviews recent developments in liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (including quadruple, ion traps, time-of-flight mass analyzers and hybrid instruments) and data processing techniques in the qualitative and quantitative analyses of TCMs. In addition, several hot topics in TCM research such as quality control, fingerprint, multi-component qualification and quantification, pharmacokinetics, and metabolomics are also discussed. Finally, future directions of LC/MS for research on complex systems, such as multiple ionization mass spectrometry strategy, multiple dimensions LC and nanospray LC are also discussed concisely.