Abstract: Root exudates acted as important medium between plant and the environment for transmissions of material, energy and information via root. The collection, identification and functional assessment of rood exudates consisted the core content of relative researches on plant nutrition, plant secondary metabolism and environmental remediation. This paper summarized the effects and influencing factors of root exudates, reviewed the recent progress in collection, isolation, purification and identification so as to provide useful reference to the study of root exudate.