中药的采收时节和方法对确保药物的质量有着密切的关联。因为动植物在其生长发育的不同时期其药用部分所含有效及有害成分各不相同，因此药物的疗效和毒副作用也往往有较大差异，故药材的采收必须在适当的时节采集。
The harvesting time and methods of traditional Chinese medicine are closely related to ensuring the quality of drugs. Because the effective and harmful ingredients in the medicinal parts of plants and animals are different at different stages of their growth and development, the efficacy and toxicity of drugs are often quite different, so the collection of medicinal materials must be in the right time.