Abstract: The ethanol reflux extraction method was used to investigate the effects of different extraction temperature, material-to-liquid ratio, ethanol concentration and extraction time on the extraction rate of total saponins of Codonopsis tanshen Oliv.. The orthogonal test was used to optimize the extraction process conditions, and a suitable macroporous adsorptive resin was screened to purify the total saponins. The results showed that the best process conditions for reflux extraction of the total saponins of Codonopsis tanshen Oliv. were：Extraction temperature was 70 ℃, material-to-liquid ratio was 1:25, ethanol concentration was 70%, extraction time was 90 min. Under this process condition, the extraction rate of total saponins was 2.15%. HPD-100 type macroporous adsorptive resin had the best adsorption performance for the total saponins of Codonopsis tanshen Oliv.. The best purification conditions were：The concentration of the sample solution was 5 mg/mL, the eluent was 70% ethanol. Under this purification condition, the purity of total saponinis was 90.69%. The extraction and purification process has simple operation, low required cost and strong feasibility, which can provide theoretical reference for the industrial development of Codonopsis tanshen Oliv.

Key words: Codonopsis tanshen Oliv., total saponins, reflux extraction, orthogonal test, macroporous adsorptive resin