Abstract
Discovering targets in natural products is a critical and challenging task in new drug development. Rapid and efficient screening of active ingredients from complex systems like traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is now crucial in drug research. Affinity ultrafiltration (AUF) technology is widely used to screen active ingredients in natural medicines. AUF-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (AUF-LC-MS) leverages the affinity between natural medicine extracts and targets to isolate active ingredients from complex matrices, employing LC-MS for detection and activity assessment. This review discusses the developments in employing AUF-LC-MS to analyze TCM and TCM compound preparations over the last decade. This review succinctly presents the advantages and limitations of AUF-LC-MS, illustrating its benefits through the example of screening for active ingredients in natural pharmaceuticals.