OBJECTI VE To establish the high performan ce liquid c hromatography（HPLC）fingerprint of carotenoid in Lycium barbarum，and to investigate the spectrum-effect relationship between its common peak and antioxidant activity. METHODS HPLC method was adopted. The fingerprints of carotenoid in 34 batches of L. barbarum from different producing areas were established by Similarity Evaluation System of TCM Fingerprint （2012 edition），and similarity evaluation and common peak identification were carried out. Taking scavenging rate of DPPH free radical as index ，in vitro antioxidant activity of carotenoid in L. barbarum was investigated. The spectrum-effect relationship between the common peaks of carotenoids in L. barbarum and antioxidant activity was analyzed by grey correlation method. RESULTS There were 4 common peaks in the fingerprints of carotenoids in 34 batches of L. barbarum ，and the similarity was not less than 0.903. Peak 1 was identified as zeaxanthin ，and peak 4 as zeaxanthin dipalmitate. The scavenging rates of them to DPPH free radical were 1.792％-3.160％. The common peaks of carotenoids in L. barbarum were positively correlated with scavenging rate of DPPH free radical ，and the correlation degree was greater than 0.6；the correlation degree of peak 2 and peak 4（zeaxanthin dipalmitate ）with scavenging rate of DPPH free radical was greater than 0.8. According to the correlation degree ，the contribution of each common peak to scavenging rate of DPPH free radical was determined as peak 2＞ peak 4（zeaxanthin dipalmitate ）＞peak 1（zeaxanthin）＞peak 3. CONCLUSIONS In this study ，HPLC fingerprint of carotenoid in L. barbarum is successfully established ，and two common peaks are identified. The chemical components represented by peak 2 and zeaxanthin palmitate may be the material basis of antioxidant activity of carotenoid in L. barbarum .