Proanthocyanidins (PAC) are the most widely distributed plant secondary metabolites in medicinal plants,fruits,and vegetables.Because of their broad spectrum of bioactivities and health benefits,PAC have been widely used in daily diet,and for preventing and curing diseases.Thus,they are worthy of further development and application.However,chemical studies on PAC present a great challenge due to their complex structures,higher molecular weights,and some problems during the extraction process,such as insolubility in water and organic solvents.So far,many techniques have been applied to the studies of PAC,without any specificity.Moreover,there is no standard method for the analysis of PAC.Herein,the research progress on analytical method of PAC is summarized,from the views of their chemical structures,methods of analysis,separation,purification,and structure determination,together with the assessment of advantages and disadvantages of each method,in order to provide a reference and promote the study of PAC.