In an attempt to find natural sources of antioxidants and whitening agents, Comparisons of the antioxidative and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of various ethanol extracts of Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba and Acanthopanacis Cortex were carried out. Comparison of the four ethanol extracts revealed that, Astragali Radix had the highest electron-donating ability(72.5%) and the highest SOD-like ability(26.1%). The xanthine oxidase experiment exhibited a hindrance effect of 88.5% in Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, 81.1% in Acanthopanacis Cortex, 75.8% in Astragali Radix. A tyrosinase inhibitory activity assay was conducted to evaluate the whitening effects of the extracts, The tyrosinase inhibitory activity was 42.1% in the Acanthopanacis Cortex, 37.2% in the Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba, 6.0% in the Astragali Radix. Based on these results, we suggest that the ethanol extracts of Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba and Acanthopanacis Cortex can be used as food and cosmetic ingredients.