Abstract: The quality and efficacy differences of Panax notoginseng （Burk.） F. H. Chen under hot air drying at 60 ℃ and 80 ℃ and freeze drying were studied by investigating the composition and efficacy changes caused by drying methods. HPLC, UV and other methods were used to analyze the contents of saponins, total polysaccharides, total flavonoids and total phenols in Panax notoginseng components after hot air drying and freeze drying. The pharmacological effects of Panax notoginseng dried by three different drying methods were studied through pharmacological experiments, and the results were analyzed by principal component analysis and component / pharmacodynamic correlation analysis. The results showed that the contents of Rg₁, Rb₁, Rd and total saponins of Panax notoginseng dried at 80 ℃ were significantly lower than those of freeze-dried powder. Total saponin content was freeze-drying panax notoginseng > 60 ℃ hot air drying panax notoginseng > 80 ℃ hot air drying panax notoginseng. Compared with Panax notoginseng dried at 60 ℃, the contents of Rg₁ and Rb₁ in freeze-dried Panax notoginseng increased by 8.37% and 6.33%, and the content of R₁ decreased by 2.48%. The contents of Re and Rd in freeze-dried Panax notoginseng were higher than those in hot air drying Panax notoginseng. The results showed that the pharmacological action of freeze drying Panax notoginseng was higher than that of hot air drying Panax notoginseng. Compared with freeze-dried Panax notoginseng, the pharmacodynamic components of hot-air-dried Panax notoginseng were reduced. Panax notoginseng with different drying methods could cause changes in the content of components and thus produce different pharmacodynamic differences.

Key words: Panax notoginseng （Burk.） F. H. Chen, content determination, efficacy, correlation analysis