NOVELTY - Extraction and separation of total ginsenoside from American ginseng root comprises (A) extracting American ginseng crude powder with 30-70% ethanol; obtaining concentrated liquid; diluting the obtained concentrated liquid with water; shaking uniformly; placing in refrigerator; filtering; removing the residue; obtaining extracting liquid; first purifying by macroporous adsorption resin; second purifying by weakly alkaline negative ion exchange resin; and freeze-drying the purified solution to obtain American ginseng root total ginsenoside.    USE - The method is for extraction and separation of total ginsenoside from American ginseng root (claimed), where total ginsenoside comprises ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside Rc, and ginsenoside Rd.    ADVANTAGE - The total purity of ginsenoside Rg1, ginsenoside Re, and ginsenoside Rb1 is not less than 74.0%. The method is simple and easy to operate and suitable for mass production and provides no pollution.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Extraction and separation of total ginsenoside from American ginseng root comprises (A) extracting by weighing American ginseng crude powder; adding 6-12 times by volume of 30-70% ethanol; heating at reflux to extract for 2-3 times, each for 1-3 hours; soaking for 60-90 minutes; filtering; combining the filtrate; decompression concentrating until there is no taste of alcohol; measuring the volume-weight ratio of drug solution to drug material at 1:2-2:1; and obtaining the concentrated liquid; (B) adding 3-5 times water to dilute the obtained concentrated liquid; shaking uniformly; placing in a refrigerator for 12-24 hours; filtering; removing the residue; and obtaining extracting liquid; (C) first purification comprising weighing macroporous adsorption resin at weight ratio of drug material to resin of 1:2-1.6:1; adding in chromatographic column having diameter-height ratio of 1:3-1:13; washing with 95% ethanol and distilled water; saturating by adsorbing the extracting liquid for 1-3 hours at 4.5-9 times column volume/hour; using distilled water with 5-10 times column volume to wash and desugar, where elution speed is 4.5-12 times column volume/hour; using 7 times column volume of 20% ethanol solution to remove impurities, where elution speed is 4.5-1.2 times column volume/hour; using 5-15 times column volume of 70% ethanol solution to remove impurities, where elution speed is 4.5-1.2 times column volume/hour; collecting 70% of ethanol elution solution; and obtaining purified solution A; (D) second purification comprising weighing weakly alkaline negative ion exchange resin at drug material to resin weight ratio of 3:1-1:1; adding in chromatographic column having diameter-height ratio of 1:3-1:6; using acid and alkali to treat the weakly alkaline negative ion exchange resin; washing with distilled water until pH is 7; making the purified solution flow through the weakly alkaline negative ion exchange resin bed at 5 times column volume/hour; collecting the discharging solution; using 3-5 times column volume of 70% ethanol solution to flow through the weakly alkaline negative ion exchange resin column; collecting the discharging solution; combining the discharging solution and concentrating until there is no taste of alcohol; and obtaining purified solution B; and (E) freeze-drying the purified solution B to obtain American ginseng root total ginsenoside.