Objective: Astragalus is one of the most commonly used drugs in Chinese herbal medicine

and the medicinal Astragalus plant in the country has obvious regional application characteristics. This paper would discuss the chemical constituents of 10 representative Astragalus plants and the research progress of pharmacological action

belonging to five subgenus. Ten species of Astragalus were A. hoantchy

A. complanatus

A. ernestii

A. membranaceus

A. momongholicus var. mongholicus

A. floridus

A. chrysopterus

A. melilotoidesll

Chinese Astragalus A. chinensis; A. adsurgens in the genus Calamagrostis. Among 47 kinds of saponins

37 species were found in A. membranaceus

10 species of A.momongholicus

6 species of A.membranaceus

and 4 species of A.floridus. Among 85 flavonoids

40 species were of Astragalus

21 species of A.adsurgens

3 species of Barnyardum officinalis

15 species of A.complanatus

3 species of A. mongolica

1 species of A.chrysopterus

3 species of A.hoantchy

and 3 species of A.melilotoidesll; 6 alkaloids were found in A.momongholicus. Astragalus polysaccharides had very different because of different extraction processes. The polysaccharide structure would not be reviewed here

and the pharmacological effects would be reviewed in this paper mainly from the human immune system

anti-aging

anti-virus

anti-tumor and cardiovascular effects.