Objective: To evaluate the cold and hot characteristics of Curcumae longae Rhizoma, Curcumae Radix and Curumae Rhizoma, and study the relationship between the content of curcumin in the three herbs and the hot and cold characteristics.Methods: MTT assay was used to investigate the effect of the three herbs on the growth of SGC-7901 in vitro.Trypan-blue staining was used to analyze the cytotoxicity, and the content of curcumin was detected by HPLC.Results: Curcumae longae Rhizoma and Curumae Rhizoma could promote the proliferation of SGC-7901 at the dose of 5 μg·ml-1 and showed hot characteristics;Curcumae Radix could inhibit the growth and proliferation of SGC-7901 within the concentration range of 5-800 μg·ml-1.Trypan-blue staining showed the three herbs had no cytotoxicity on SGC-7901.The content of curcumin in Curcumae Longae Rhizoma, Curcumae Radix and Curumae Rhizoma was 4.88%, 0.15% and 0.042%, respectively.Conclusion: The content of curcumin in the three herbs affects the hot and cold characteristics, and curcumin may be the important material basis for the hot and cold characteristics.