Hyphenated analytical techniques for validation of herbal medicine

Traditional analytical methods are not enough to handle the increasing number of problems in natural product research. The hyphenated technique is an advanced form which is the link of a separation and spectroscopic technique to achieve the benefits of both. The outstanding progresses in hyphenated systems have considerably extended their uses in natural products analysis. The influence of linking separation and spectroscopic systems has been proved for both quantitative and qualitative analysis of unidentified phytoconstituents in the extracts/fractions. Hyphenated techniques make it possible to get broad chemical profiles of herbal extracts/medicine/formulations. This chapter describes principles, instrumentations and applications of hyphenated tools (HPTLC–MS, HPLC–MS, GC–MS, and LC–NMR) in isolation, identification and structural elucidation of phytoconstituents along with the approach towards quality evaluation and scientific validation natural products.