Abstract: The metabolome refers to all the low-molecular-weight metabolites present in an organism or cell in a particular physiological period. The term plant metabolomics is used for defining the technology of high-throughput, nonbiased analyses of the metabolome of plant extracts. Research into plant metabolomics has advanced greatly during recent years. This review introduces the definition, history and research approaches of plant metabolomics and gives several typical examples to elucidate the application of plant metabolomics.