Objective: To determine whether Gansu Hedysari Radix contains astragaloside Ⅳ;to determinate the content of the total flavonoids and the total saponins in Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix

and compare the total flavonoids and total saponins content of one year old and two years old Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix in different areas of Gansu province. Method: The content of astragaloside Ⅳ was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) with astragaloside Ⅳ as the reference substance. The content of total flavonoids was determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometry at 260 nm detection wavelength with myroneisoflavones glucoside as the reference substance. The content of total saponins was determined by vanillin-perchloric acid colorimetric method at 540 nm wavelength with astragaloside Ⅳ as the reference substance. Result: The content of astragaloside Ⅳ in Gansu Hedysari Radix was 0.055 5 μg·g-1

and the content of astragaloside Ⅳ in Astragali Radix was 37.9 μg·g-1. The content of total flavonoids in two years old Hedysari Radix was as follows:0.449% in Longxi and other places

0.370% in Dangchang

0.394% in Wudu

and 0.402% in the whole province;the content of total flavonoids in two years old Astragali Radix was as follows:0.374% in Longxi and other places

0.542% in Dangchang

0.424% in Wudu

and 0.452% in the whole province;the content of total saponins in two years old Hedysari Radix was as follows:3.68% in Longxi and other places

3.89% in Dangchang

4.24% in Wudu

and 3.95% in the whole province;the content of total saponins in two years old Astragali Radix was as follows:4.63% in Longxi and other places

5.11% in Dangchang

4.80% in Wudu

and 4.86% in the whole province. Conclusion: Gansu Hedysari Radix contained astragaloside A

but was only 1/682 of that in Astragali Radix. The contents of total flavonoids and total saponins in one year old and two years old Hedysari Radix were lower than those in Astragali Radix. The contents of total flavonoids and total saponins in two years old Hedysari Radix and Astragali Radix were higher than those of one year old. The contents of total flavonoids and total saponins of one and two years old Hedysari Radix in Wudu were higher than those in Dangchang

while the contents of total flavonoids and total saponins of one year old and two years old Astragali Radix in Wudu were lower than those in Dangchang. The quality of two years old Hedysari Radix was optimal in Wudu

and the quality of two years old Astragali Radix was optimal in Dangchang. There were significant differences in contents of astragaloside Ⅳ

total flavonoids and total saponins content between the two

so they can not be replaced by each other.