OBJECTIVE: To study the distribution characteristics of germacrone from zedoary turmeric oil (ZTO) in each tissue of mice, and to provide reference for further application of zedoary turmeric oil. METHODS: 30 KM mice were given zedoary turmeric oil 0.5 mL; 6 mice were randomly selected 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 h after medication, respectively. The contents of germacrone in heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney tissues were determined by HPLC. 15 KM mice were selected, medication and sampling method were same as above; 3 mice were collected at each time point respectively. The fluorescence intensity of germacrone in above sections were observed by fluorescence. The same number of mice were selected as control in 2 trials. RESULTS: The concentration of germacrone in each tissue 1-4 h increased gradually as time and reached the peak value at 4 h. The contents of germacrone in liver and spleen were significantly higher than in heart and lung. The concentrations of germacrone in each tissue were ranked as liver>spleen>kidney>heart>lung. The results of fluorescence intensity observation was same as above results. CONCLUSIONS: Results of 2 methods show same distribution characteristics of germacrone in mice tissues, and indicate that germacrone is distributed more in liver, spleen and kidney tissues and less in heart and lung.