Advanced phytochemical analysis of herbal tea in China

•The first review related to herbal tea in China to date.•Firstly introduced the materials commonly used in herbal tea in China.•Review on recent (2005–2013) development of phytochemical analysis of herbal tea in China.

Herbal tea is a commonly consumed beverage brewed from the leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, stems and roots of plants species rather than Camellia sinensis L., which has been widely used for health care and diseases prevention for centuries. With the increasing consumption of herbal tea, a number of public health issues e.g., efficacy, safety and quality assurance have attracted concern. However, to date, there is no a review focus on herbal tea. Phytochemical analysis, as a key step to investigate the chemical composition of herbal tea and ensure the quality, is very important. In this review, we summarized and discussed the recent development (2005–2012) in phytochemical analysis of herbal tea commonly used in China.