Abstract
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with a history spanning over 2,000 years, contains numerous strongly polar components that are increasingly the focus of pharmaceutical and analytical research. However, conventional reversed-phase liquid chromatography usually fails to adequately retain and separate these highly polar components. Hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) has emerged as a powerful complementary technique, offering improved retention and separation for polar analytes. In recent years, HILIC has seen rapid development and wide application in the analysis of TCM. This review summarizes the major types of HILIC stationary phases and their recent applications in the separation of polar components in TCM. Particular attention is given to the analysis, quality control, and metabolomic profiling of bioactive compounds such as flavonoids, alkaloids, and saponins, highlighting the increasingly important role of HILIC in promoting TCM research.