Abstract: The grading guideline of tara beans was put forward by determining physical features of tara beans to obtain the result as follows:length of tara(Caesalpinia spinosa Kuntze) beans was 0.620-1.184cm with average 0.899cm, thickness of tara beans was 0.149-0.678cm with average 0.426cm, mass of thousand grains of tara beans was 146-245g with average 195.02g. Tara bean is consisted of bean shell 34.0%- 42.0% with average 39.0%, bean embryo 24.0%-34.0% with average 31.0% and bean endosperm 21.0%-31.0% with average 26.0%. The constitution, chemical constituents, processing and characterstics of tara beans in China,as well as current states of researches and development trend of tara beans are briefly decribed.

Key words: tara, tara beans, tara polysaccharide