To investigate the effects of different drying methods and electron beam irradiation (EBI) on the polyphenol content in Gastrodia elata roots,this study employed vacuum freeze-drying and heat-reduced pressure drying in combination with EBI technology.High-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint was established to simultaneously determine the contents of eight polyphenolic compounds,including gastrodin and vanillic acid,in G.elata roots samples.The HPLC method demonstrated excellent resolution for all components,with each pair of adjacent peaks having a resolution greater than 1.5,and showed good linearity (R² ≥ 0.999 1) within the corresponding concentration ranges.The quality of G.elata roots was evaluated using the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) model,incorporating entropy weights.The analysis revealed that the optimal conditions for preserving the quality of G.elata roots involved freeze-drying followed by 20 kGy of EBI.In summary,the developed HPLC method provides a simple,rapid,and reliable approach for the simultaneous determination of multiple polyphenols in G.elata roots,and it establishes the optimal EBI and drying conditions,offering theoretical support for the development and utilization of G.elata roots resources.