Gradient enhanced nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (GOESY) has been applied in the structural elucidation of five plant secondary metabolites: eucalyptin, arctigenin, 5-geranyloxy-7-methoxycoumarin, 2,6-dihydroxy-4-methoxyisovalerophenone and N-feruloyltyramine. The importance and sensitivity of this technique in structure elucidation of plant secondary metabolites are discussed.