The prices are significant difference between Winter Tianma(WTM，harvested in winter)and Spring Tianma(STM，harvested in spring)，but their quality are not known.An HPLC method was therefore developed to quantify the amounts of gastrodin，p-hydroxybenzylalcohol and adenosine in Tianma samples，which were detected at their maximum absorbance wavelengths to assess the quality of WTM and STM.Methods:15 WTM and 11 STM samples were collected and quantified the levels of the three bioactive compounds.Combined with the morphological characteristics，the correlation between the various Tianma samples with their commercial specification and cultivation areas were further studied.Results:The results indicates that the sum of gastrodin and p-hydroxybenzylalcohol in STM(0.766%，n=11)was 1.22 folds of that in WTM(0.628%，n=15)，while the total amount of gastrodin，p-hydroxybenzylalcohol and adenosine in STM(0.787%，n=11)was 1.21 folds of that in WTM(0.653%，n=15).But their differences were not significance(P>0.05).Moreover，both the sum of gastrodin and p-hydroxybenzylalcohol，and the sum of gastrodin，p-hydroxybenzylalcohol and adenosine in WTM samples harvested in Sichuan ware higher than those in Shaanxi and Yunnan of China.Conclusion:It is concluded that the developed HPLC method is accurate to quantify the amounts of gastrodin，p-hydroxybenzylalcohol and adenosine in Tianma samples.On the basis of the three bioactive compounds，the quality of STM is better than WTM，and the quality of WTM cultivated in Sichuan of China is better than those in Shaanxi and Yunnan.