ABSTRACT
Plant synthesizes an array of potential compounds called secondary metabolites by using different biosynthetic pathways. These secondary metabolites offer significant biological activities and thus are considered lead compounds in the drug discovery. Depending upon on the environmental conditions and other factors, rate of synthesis of these compounds varies significantly among different plants. Some of the most challenging parts of natural product science are the identification, isolation, purification as well as the characterization of these lead compounds. Depending upon the physical and chemical properties of the phytochemical, suitable methods can be developed for the isolation as well as purification, and using various robust analytical tools, these phytochemicals can be identified, characterized, and isolated. This chapter gives a detailed account on the procedures involved in the identification, isolation, purification as well as the characterization of the commercially viable phytopharmaceuticals.
