A precision colorimeter was used to obtain color values,and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was applied to determine the contents of carotenoid metabolites in Hedysari Radix.One-way ANOVA,PCA analysis,cluster analysis,correlation analysis,OPLS-DA analysis were also used to study the correlation between color and carotenoids in Hedysari Radix.The results showed that 17 carotenoids were detected,and there were significant differences in color values of brown,reddish brown,auburn and yellow-brown samples.It was also found that there was a correlation between color values and contents of carotenoids.Seventeen carotenoids were characterized by maximum and minimal values between the 4 color samples,and the distribution of contents was differential.Eleven differential metabolites were involved in two categories (carotenoids and luteolin),namely α-carotene,β-carotene,lutein dilaurate,lutein dimyristate,violaxanthin dibutyrate,violaxanthin myristate,antheraxanthin,zeaxanthin,violaxanthin,lutein,and β-cryptoxanthin laurate,which is one of the color-presenting substances in the production of color in Hedysari Radix.The reasons for the colouration of brown,reddish brown,auburn and yellow-brown Hedysari Radix samples may be related to the content and type of carotenoid metabolites.