Gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) is established by combining the colloidal gold immunoassay with chromatographic assay in solid membrane and has been widely applied in research field of food

agriculture

biology and clinical medicine. GICA has been applied in detection of natural small molecules based on preparation of specific monoclonal antibodies and has the advantages of simplicity

rapidity

less sample consumption and visual identification results with naked eyes. The paper introduced the principle of GICA on account of competitive combination of antigen and antibody

and summarized the research report on application of GICA in detection of different types of natural small molecules based on the domestic and abroad literatures in recent years

indicating that GICA has great significance on improvement of quality control system of natural medicines. Moreover

the advantages and disadvantages

technical obstacles and improvement of GICA are discussed in order to provide a salutary reference for quality control of natural medicines.