OBJECTIVETo lay a foundation for the study on good variety selection of Isatis indigotica, comparison of plant traits and quality evaluation of Isatis germplasm resources from different production area was conducted.

METHODField cultivation and randomized block experiment were adopted to compare those plant traits of leaf, root, silique and seed of Isatis from different production area and the content of R,S-goitrin and polysaccharide in the root was determined.

RESULTDifferent cultivation forms of Isatis had significant difference from each other in leaf, root, silique and seed, content of R,S-goitrin and polysaccharide in the root were also different. R,S-goitrin content in Isatis of Chinese cabbage leaf type ( production area: Yunnan ) was comparative higher, 0.59% , while polysaccharide content in autotetraploid Isatis was comparative higher, 8.68%.

CONCLUSIONAccording to the plant traits, Isatis were classified into three types: Chinese cabbage leaf type, cabbage leaf type and mustard leaf type, of which R,S-goitrin content in Chinese cabbage leaf type (production area: Yunnan) was comparative higher, while polysaccharide content in autotetraploid Isatis was comparative higher.