Abstract: Edible medicinal plant, one of important natural resources, is extensively applied to food industry. However, concept and meaning of edible medicinal plant remain ambiguous, which seriously affected the research and manufacture of foods, especially health foods in China. According to standards, laws and administrative regulations applied in China, we demonstrate the nature of health foods and clarified the meaning of edible medicinal plants. We also proposed that the broad-sense edible medicinal plant is defined as plant used not only in health foods and ordinary foods but also in medicines.

Key words: edible medicinal plant, definition, health food, medicinal plant