In order to study the factors affecting the quality of RADIX CODONOPSIS,the literatures were studied from the aspects of germplasm,growth environment,cultivation technology,processing method,drying method,storage condition and so on. The qualities of different verities of RADIX CODONOPSIS were compared,as well as the effects of their environment,cultivation and processing on the effective component and efficacy of RADIX CODONOPSIS. The contents of lobetyolin,polysaccharides,and atractylenolide Ⅲ in RADIX CODONOPSIS were taken as the evaluation indices. It was found out that the germplasm,growth environment,cultivation technology,processing method and storage condition affected the quality of RADIX CODONOPSIS in different degrees. Among them,germplasm had the maximum influencing degree; and the influence degrees of the rest factors still needed further study. Technical measures were used to enhance andstabilize the quality of RADIX CODONOPSIS: pay attention to the germ plasm and select varieties with high quality and active ingredient in order to enhance thequality of RADIX CODONOPSIS; since environmental conditions affecting the quality and active ingredient,genuine environment for medicinal materials should selected in order to ensure the quality stability of RADIX CODONOPSIS; effects of agronomic measures on the quality and output should not be ignored,and the optimal agronomic measures could further enhance the output and active ingredient content in RADIX CODONOPSIS; processing method not only affected the content ofeffective component,but also influenced the storage; processing method affected the chemical composition and efficacy of RADIX CODONOPSIS,and research onthe optimal processing method could ensure the clinical efficacy; the optimal storage method could effectively control the loss of effective component and enhance thequality of RADIX CODONOPSIS.
