AIM: To reveal the profile of astragalosides for better quality evaluation of Radix Astragali, this study was aimed to investigate the transformation of astragalosides under different conditions. METHOD: Seven major astragalosides were selected for evaluation under acidic, neutral and alkaline conditions. The transformation in real plant samples was also examined and the products were characterized by LC-ESI-TOF/MS. RESULTS: In weak acidic solution, all of the astragalosides are stable. In addition, the transformation ratios of the astragalosides under neutral and alkaline conditions were also obtained. CONCLUSION: In neutral solution, malonylastragaloside I was transformed to astragaloside I; and in alkaline solution, substituent group(s) in the xylose moiety of all the astragalosides were eliminated. Since astragalosdie IV is the basic skeleton structure of the astrgalosides, it is a common transformation product of other astragalosides.
