by The Chinese University of Hong Kong China Pang-Chui Shaw, Jinan University China Hui Cao, The Chinese University of Hong Kong China Yat-Tung Lo

For centuries, Chinese medicinal materials have been used for therapeutic purposes. Chinese medicinal materials are traditionally identified by their organoleptic characteristics, such as the texture or the odor. With the advancement of DNA technology, a molecular approach has become an important tool to complement organoleptic, morphological, anatomical and chemical techniques for the authentication and quality assurance of Chinese medicinal materials.In 2002, the authors published Authentication of Chinese Medicinal Materials by DNA Technology which is the first international reference in this field. After 20 years, this new edition updates the various useful techniques and describes the new techniques developed for molecular authentication. The procedures of each DNA technique are provided in detail for 'step-by-step' experiments.This book is divided into 5 parts with 18 chapters. Part I reviews the current status of molecular authentication and introduces a wide range of DNA techniques. Part II lists the experimental procedures for molecular authentication. Part III describes the DNA fingerprinting-based techniques. Part IV describes the DNA sequencing-based techniques. Finally, Part V provides an account on the recent advancement in molecular authentication, including guidelines for setting up a proper DNA laboratory and concluding remarks.