The present review surveys the existing methods of analysis for the determination of conjugated dienes in petroleum products, including both chemical and instrumental techniques. Several methods of quantifying the total conjugated dienes amount in complex hydrocarbon mixtures have already been reported. However, the identification of each conjugated diene has been proved to be a difficult task to be done although a detailed analysis will enable a good correlation with the gum formation and the catalyst poisoning. Here the scope and limitation of each method in relation of its applicability to specific petroleum products are fully discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.