[Objective] To investigate the relationship between the rutin,sophoricoside content in FRUCTUS SOPHORAE(originated from the dried fruits of S.japonica) and its growth time(harvesting time) in order to define the optimal harvesting time of FRUCTUS SOPHORAE for different applying purpose.[Method] The fruits of S.japonica were collected once a month from the mid-August to the next mid-January for three consecutive years between 2006 and 2008.The content of rutin and sophoricoside in the extracts obtained from FRUCTUS SOPHORAE by absolute methanol continuous extraction method was simultaneously determined by RP-HPLC.The separation of extracts was carried out on a Diamonsil C18 column(150 mm×4.6 mm,5 μm) with the detection wavelength at 260 nm.Following the injection of extracts,an elution with methanol-1% glacial acetic acid-acetonitrile(V/V/V,30.4:64.6:5) as mobile phase was initiated at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min.[Result] Rutin peaked in the mid-August,with the level of(0.87±0.16)%,then declined gradually.Sophoricoside,the most predominant components of flavonoids,reached the highest between the mid-September and mid-October,which was(5.76±0.22)% and(5.33±0.39)%,respectively.The content of sophoricoside in FRUCTUS SOPHORAE harvested in autumn was much higher than that in the fruits collected in winter(P≤0.05).[Conclusion] The content of rutin and sophoricoside in FRUCTUS SOPHORAE at different development stages had the tendency of seasonal variation,which was the lowest in that harvested in winter.Being known the seasonal variation of the content of rutin and sophoricoside,the optimal harvesting time of S.japonica fruits for different applying purpose could be defined,aiming at providing certain theoretical basis for the scientific utilization of current resources. [Objective] To investigate the relationship between the rutin, sophoricoside content in FRUCTUS SOPHORAE (originated from the dried fruits of S. japonica) and its growth time (harvesting time) in order to define the optimal harvesting time of FRUCTUS SOPHORAE for different anagement purpose [Method] The fruits of S.japonica were collected once a month from the mid-August to the next mid-January for three consecutive years between 2006 and 2008. The content of rutin and sophoricoside in the extracts obtained from FRUCTUS SOPHORAE by absolute methanol continuous extraction method was once determined by RP-HPLC. The separation of extracts was carried out on a Diamonsil C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with the detection wavelength at 260 nm. with methanol-1% glacial acetic acid-acetonitrile (V / V / V, 30.4: 64.6: 5) as mobile phase was initiated at a flow rate of 1.0 ml / min. [Result] Rutin peaked in the mid- August, with the level of (0.87 ± 0.16)%, the The most predominant components of flavonoids, reached the highest between the mid-September and mid-October, which was (5.76 ± 0.22)% and (5.33 ± 0.39)%, respectively. The content of sophoricoside in FRUCTUS SOPHORAE harvested in autumn was much higher than that in the fruits collected in winter (P ≦ 0.05). [Conclusion] The content of rutin and sophoricoside in different development stages had the tendency of seasonal variation, which was the lowest in that harvested in winter.Being known the seasonal variation of the content of rutin and sophoricoside, the optimal harvesting time of S. japonica fruits for different applying purpose could be defined, aiming at providing certain theoretical basis for the scientific utilization of current resources.