Relationship between seedling grade of Codonopsis pilosula and yield and quality of medicinal materials

The study is aimed to research the relationship between the seedling grade of Codonopsis pilosula and yield and quality of medicinal materials, so as to provide basis for establishing seedling standard. Thirty seedlings of C. pilosula were collected from the main production areas in Gansu province, such as Weiyuan, Minxian, Zhangxian, Dangchang and Longxi, root length and diameter and weight of all the samples were measured. According to the clustering results, seedlings were divided into 3 levels, and field experiments were conducted with three levels seedling, yield and quality were tested in laboratory. Results have showed that emergence of grades 1 was faster than that of grades 2 and 3. Yield of grades 1 was significantly higher than that of grades 2 and 3 (P 15.6 cm, root diameter>2.7 mm, root weight>0.56 g.