Abstract: The production,distribution and classification of Chinese chestnuts in the past several years were summarized,and the nutritional components of 38 chestnut varieties were collected and analyzed by SPSS,including difference analysis,principal component analysis and cluster analysis.The results showed that there were high differences in water,starch,protein,water- soluble saccharides and fats contents. For principal component analysis,four principal components were extracted,and their cumulative variance contribution rate was 92.98%,which reflected much of the quality characteristics of chestnuts.Cluster analysis showed that thirty- eight cultivars could be divided into 4 groups with remarkable difference.The results can provide the theoretical basis for the raw material selection of Chinese chestnut processing.