Medicinal plants are the source of a large number of essential drugs and are the basis of herbal medicine, which is not only the primary source of health care for most of the world’s population living in developing countries but also enjoys growing popularity in developed countries. The increased demand for botanical products is met by an expanding industry and accompanied by calls for assurance of quality, effi cacy and safety. Plants used as drugs, dietary supplements and herbal medicines are identifi ed at the species level. Unequivocal identifi cation is a critical step at the beginning of an extensive process of quality assurance and is of importance for the characterization of the genetic diversity, phylogeny and phylogeography as well as the protection of endangered species. DNA-based methods have been developed for the identifi cation of medicinal plants. Nuclear DNA is amplifi ed by the polymerase chain reaction and the reaction products are analyzed by gel electrophoresis, sequencing, or hybridization with species-specifi c probes. Genomic fi ngerprinting can diff erentiate between individuals, species and populations and is useful for the detection of the homogeneity of the samples and presence of adulterants. Although sequences from single chloroplast or nuclear genes have been useful for diff erentiation of species, phylogenetic studies often require consideration of DNA sequence data from more than one gene or genomic region. Phytochemical and genetic data are correlated but only the latter normally allow for diff erentiation at the species level. The generation of molecular ”barcodes” of medicinal plants will be worth the concerted eff ort of the medicinal plant research community and contribute to the ongoing eff ort of defi ning barcodes for every species. The number and variety of available techniques for DNA based identifi cation of medicinal plants has led to the area becoming complex and confusing, with diff erent research groups favoring particular techniques and applying them to their plant species of interest. Indeed, many of the aforementioned techniques may have been developed for one medicinal plant species by diff erent groups on separate occasions, possibly even for diff erent purposes. For instance, the important TCM plant genus Dendrobium has been analyzed for diff erent species via RAPD [4], ARMS [3] and DNA barcode sequence. In order for the potential of DNA based identifi cation techniques to be realized, they must fi rst become standardized between plant species and working groups. DNA barcoding aims toward this ‘gold standard’, but delays in the choice of the barcode region have so far hindered this. Now that the decision is made eff orts to sequence rbcL and matK in all available plant species will no doubt follow. However, CBOL also advocates the sequencing of several other regions, previously candidate barcodes, to ‘back-up’ matK, and further work on procedures to improve amplifi cation and sequencing of these regions (Executive Committee, 2009). The result of this will be a wealth of DNA sequence knowledge for between two and seven regions in plant species. In order to make use of this resource in Moldova it is possible to identify unknown plant materials by sample collection, DNA extraction, PCR amplifi cation and amplicon clean-up. This process, excluding DNA extraction, is required for each chosen geographical region. Though becoming more manageable with technological advances, this process can be enhanced by creation of national biobank of medicinal plant samples which need molecular identifi cation on the base of specifi c primer design for further barcoding.