| Summary: | The principle of green chemistry is crucial in the industrial processing of natural products. In particular, the extraction process of bioactive compounds from plant sources which involve food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries demand the use of green solvents. This is important to produce a value-added product that is safe for human consumption and the environment. Over the last few years, attention has been drawn towards the utilization of natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) as the novel solvents in isolating bioactive compounds from natural sources. Its vast potential to replace conventional organic solvents and ionic liquids (IL) is realized due to their outstanding features which greatly comply with the green chemistry aspects. Since then, researchers are exploring endless opportunities for NADES, particularly the hydrophilic NADES to be used as an extraction media. This paper presents a review of the physicochemical properties of hydrophilic NADES. In view of the fact that these properties are responsible for NADES behaviour and its functionality, a comprehensive discussion on each property is presented. A detailed assessment of its properties provides a fundamental understanding associated with their molecular interactions and responses to the surrounding conditions. In addition, the solubilizing capacity of NADES towards bioactive compounds is also reviewed. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.
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