With buds of Aralia elata (Miq.) Seem.as the experimental materials,the extraction conditions of polysaccharide from buds of Aralia elata (Miq.) Seem.were optimized by response surface analysis with the extraction rate of polysaccharide as the response value on the basis of single-factor test and Box-Behnken design of experiment.The decoloration technologies of the polysaccharides with activated carbon were optimized by orthogonal experiment using decoloration rate and polysaccharide retention rate as indexes.The results showed that,the optimum extraction parameters were as follows,extraction temperature was 84 ℃,extraction time was 5 h,liquid to solid ratio was 26∶1(mL/g).Under these conditions,the average extraction rate of polysaccharides from A ralia elta(Miq.) Seem.buds was 5.87%.The optimal decoloration conditions were:activated carbon powder amount was 0.6%(m/m),pH was 4.0,and temperature was 60 ℃,the average decolorization rate was 94.08%,and polysaccharide retention rate was 68.15%.