RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE To provide reference for exploring alternative resources of Gentiana rigescens from the plants of Gentiana. METHODS The contents of four components （gentiopicroside， swertiamarin， swertioside and amarogentin） in the roots and rhizomes from 3 plants of Gentiana （G. rigescens， G. cephalantha， G. delavayi） were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）. The chemical compositions in the above roots and rhizomes were identified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization quarter-time of flight mass spectrometry （UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS）， and the differences were analyzed by principal component analysis （PCA）. RESULTS Four active components such as gentiopicroside， swertiamarin， swertioside and amarogentin were detected in the roots and rhizomes of G. rigescens and G. cephalantha， and the contents of the four components were similar in both. The contents of gentiopicroside in the root and rhizome of G. cephalantha and G.rigescens were more than four times of the limit standard of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia （Part Ⅰ） in 2020； However， only swertiamarin， swertioside and amarogentin were detected in the roots and rhizomes of G.delavayi， and the contents of swertioside and amarogentin were 34.12 and 8.81 times of those of G. rigescens， respectively. In addition， a total of 33 compounds 术。E-mail：515227235@qq.com were identified from the roots and rhizomes of 3 plants of Gentiana by UPLC-ESI-Q-TOF-MS， mainly iridoids. Additionally， G. rigescens and G. cephalantha contained xantones， G. delavayi contained flavonoids. PCA showed that there was a small difference between G. rigescens and G. cephalantha； however， there was a big difference between G. delavayi and G. rigescens. CONCLUSIONS The difference between the roots and rhizomes of G. cephalantha and G. rigescens from the same origin is small and there is substitutability； while the difference in the chemical components from roots and rhizomes between G. delavayi and G. rigescens is great and G. delavayi cannot be used as medicine instead of G. rigescens.