Cortex Fraxini,a kind of traditional Chinese medicinal,has low toxicity and wide clinical application.It is widely used to treat diseases such as swelling and pain of eye,damp-heat diarrhea,leucorrhea with reddish discharge,metrorrhagia,etc..Modern pharmacological studies have found that coumarin compounds are the main active components of Fraxini Cortex,among which aesculin and aesculetin are the most representative components.Numerous studies have reported that aesculin and aesculetin exhibit abundant pharmacological activities including antibacterial,anti-inflammatory,anti-tumor,antioxidant,and the potential development and utilization of these compounds has attracted increasing attention.This paper summarized the research progress of the main pharmacological effects of aesculin and aesculetin by reviewing the relevant literature at home and abroad.Our aim is to provide a reference for the drug development and clinical application of Fraxini Cortex.