LC-MS-based Metabolomics in Traditional Chinese Medicines Research: Personal Experiences

LC-MS-based metabolomics has being widely used in traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) research due to the great coverage of mass ranges, high sensitivity to detect metabolites, and no need of sample derivatization. Herein, we reviewed our research on the applications of LC-MS-based metabolomics in TCMs research over the past decade in the following aspects: herbal authentication, determination of herb harvest time, chemical transformation of herbs during post-harvest handlings (sulfur-fumigation and drying), discrimination of raw and processed herbs, chemical transformation of TCMs during preparation, screening endogenous toxic compounds in TCMs, unveiling synergistic mechanisms between small molecules (such as saponins) and polysaccharides in TCMs, revealing synergistic actions of TCMs with chemical drugs, which demonstrated that metabolomics is a superior strategy in TCMs research concerning the holistic perspectives.