Phytochemical analysis today includes the use of sophisticated analytical instrumentation by which direct identification of phytoconstituents from fresh plant parts, extracts, exudates, essential oils, and formulations is a straight forward task. However, the complex multi constituent composition of plants makes isolation and purification their active principles, still a challenging issue. An introduction to general principles of phytochemical analysis and to simple methods of extraction, isolation, and identification of some phytochemical classes is presented here. Chromatography being an invaluable and indispensable aid to the separation and analysis of complex mixtures of compounds, four basic chromatographic techniques of wide applicability in phytochemical analysis have been discussed.