Objective: To study the distribution character of inorganic elements content of Allium chinense and to provide valuable experimental evidence for the quality evaluation and control of Chinese herbal medicines Allii macrostemi bulbus. Method: The content of 14 inorganic elements in ten samples of A. chinense was determined by the means of ICP-MS with the result that fingerprints of inorganic elements were established and the characteristic elements were evaluated by SPSS cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Result: Four principal components were extracted from the original data. The principal component analysis results show that Mn

Cu

Zn

Fe

Ni

Se and Cr may be the characteristic elements in A.chinense; the results of cluster analysis showed that ten samples could be clustered reasonably into two groups

and there were some differences between red bulb and white bulb of A.chinense. And the content of inorganic elements of A.chinense is related to the ecological environment in some degree. Conclusion: The overall quantitative similarity method could be used for the determination of the inorganic elements in A.chinense; The principal component analysis and cluster analysis could be perfectly applied in data processing in inorganic elements.