A simple, sensible and reliable HPLC-DAD fingerprint analysis method for the raw materials of Oxytropisfalcata and Oxytropis chiliophylla, both of which were used as ＂Er-Da-Xia＂ in Tibetan medicines, was developed and then subsequently applied to analyze samples collected from different locations or times. 19 common fingerprint peaks for O. falcata, 24 for O. chiliophylla, and 11 for the two herbs were designated respectively, including 7 identified characteristic peaks existing in both herbs and 1 uniquely presenting in O. chiliophylla. Although there were some slight differences in the chemicals of O. falcata and O. chiliophylla, the main components of both herbs were consistent generally. The results provided scientific basis, at least from the chemical point of view, for the reasonablity of two herbs being used as the same drug in Tibetan medicines and for the necessary of further investigation on their detailed chemical and pharmacological differences.
Based on the stability results of Radix hedysari extract, an unstable compound was extracted using acidic methanol and purified by rapid chromatographic methods successfully from Radix hedysari for the first time guided by HPLC analysis. Its structure was identified as formononetin 7-O-β-D-（6＂-O-malonyl）-glucopyranoside by spectroscopic analyses.
