Advanced development in phytochemicals analysis of medicine and food dual purposes plants used in China (2011–2014)

•An updated review on medicine and food dual purposes plants (MFDPPs) used in China.•Advanced development of phytochemical analysis (2011–2014) was summarized.•The review is beneficial for well understanding the phytochemical analysis research trends of MFDPPs.

In 2011, we wrote a review for summarizing the phytochemical analysis (2006–2010) of medicine and food dual purposes plants used in China (Zhao et al., J. Chromatogr. A 1218 (2011) 7453–7475). Since then, more than 750 articles related to their phytochemical analysis have been published. Therefore, an updated review for the advanced development (2011–2014) in this topic is necessary for well understanding the quality control and health beneficial phytochemicals in these materials, as well as their research trends.