OBJECTIVE：To compare the c hemical components differences of Inula japonica before and after honey-frying. METHODS：UPLC-MS/MS method was adopted. The determination was performed on Waters ACQUITY UPLC BEH C 18 column with mobile phase consisted of 0.1％ formic acid-acetonitrile （gradient elution ）at the flow rate of 0.3 mL/min. The column temperature was set at 30 ℃，and sample size was 5 µL. The electrospray ion source was scanned by positive ion mode. The first order mass spectrometry scanning range was m/z 70-1 050，the second order mass spectrometry scanning range was m/z 50-1 050， and the normalized collision energy was 40，60 eV ；mass spectrum type was the peak figure ，the flow rate of sheath gas was 35 arb，the auxiliary airflow speed was 10 arb，the spray voltage was 3.80 kV，the S-lens voltage was 50 V，the heating temperature was 350 ℃，and the capillary temperature was 350 ℃. The components were identified by Qual Browser 4.1.39.1 software， referring to the online high-resolution database mzCloud and local database OTCML of high-resolution mass spectrometry of TCM ， and combined with relevant literature. The principal component analysis （PCA）and orthogonal partial least squared-discriminant analysis（OPLS-DA）of I. japonica before and after honey-fried were performed by using SIMCA 14.1 statistical software ，and variable importance projection （VIP）value greater than 1 was used as the standard to screen the differential components before and after honey-frying. RESULTS ：A total of 29 common chemical components were identified from I. japonica and honey-fried I. japonica，including 5 phenolic acids as 1-caffeoylquinic acid ，chlorogenic acid and 3，5-dicaffeoylquinic acid ，12 flavonoids as quercetin，luteolin and evamectin ，as well as 12 sesquiterpene lactones as 1-O-acetylinula diester ，inula bicolor lactone B and 1-O-acetyl-6-O-isobutyryl inulin. The results of PCA showed that I. japonica and honey-fried I. japonica were located on both sides of the score diagram respectively. The results of OPLS-DA showed that the VIP values of 7 components were greater than 1，which were peak 19（britanin），peak 6（quercetagitrin），peak 1（1-caffeoylquinic acid ），peak 21（vitexicarpin），peak 20（tomentosin）， peak 13（spinacetin）and peak 3（daphnetin）. CONCLUSIONS ：After honey-fried ，the content of chemical components of I. japonica changed and decreased to a certain extent. Britanin ，quercetagitrin，1-caffeoylquinic acid ，tomentosin，vitexicarpin， spinacetin and daphnetin may be the differential components of I. japonica and honey-fried I. japonica .