OBJECTIVE To establish H PLC fingerprint of Rheum palmatum before and after steaming with wine ，and to determine the contents of 3 differential components. METHODS HPLC method was used to establish the fingerprints of 15 batches of R. palmatum （before wine-steaming ）and prepared rhubarb （after wine-steaming ）and the similarity evaluation was conducted. The chemical pattern recognition analysis was carried out by principal component analysis ，cluster analysis ，partial least squares- discriminant analysis and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis. The contents of gallic acid ，resveratrol-4′-O- glucoside and resveratrol- 4′-O-（6″-galloyl）-glucoside in 30 batches of samples were determined. RESULTS In the fingerprint study，48 common peaks were demarcated for R. palmatum and 47 for prepared rhubarb as well as 17 common peaks were identified by reference substance. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis showed that R. palmatum derived from Qinghai before and after steaming with wine could be distinguished from those from Sichuan and Gansu. The results of content determination showed that the contents of 3 differential components in R. palmatum derived from Qinghai before and after steaming with wine were higher than those from other two production areas ；the contents of gallic acid in prepared rhubarb derived from those production areas were higher than R. palmatum ；the contents of resveratrol- 4′-O-glucoside and resveratrol- 4′-O- （6″-galloyl）-glucoside in R. palmatum derived from those production areas were higher than prepared rhubarb. CONCLUSIONS Fingerprint and content determination method established in this study can quickly ，scientifically and accurately evaluate the quality of R. palmatum from different producing areas before and after wine steaming ，which provide a basis for the processing specification and quality control of R. palmatum .