Pressurized solvent extraction (PSE) is a new extraction technology which has been developed in recent years and widely used as sample analysis in environmental, food and pharmaceutical fields. Extraction technique is a key technology in quality control of Chinese herb. Conventional extraction techniques have been a bottleneck of blocking the development of quality control of Chinese herb. This article attempts to review the basic principle, methods, apparatus and main characteristics of PSE and its applications to quality control of Chinese herb.