Abstract: OBJECTIVE To study the effect and mechanism of volatile oil of Angelicae Sinensis Radix(VOAS) on autophagy in human colorectal cancer LOVO cells. METHODS Human colorectal cancer LOVO cells were treated with various concentrations of VOAS(6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100 μg·mL^-1) for 48 h, CCK8 assay was used to detect the effect of VOAS on the proliferation inhibition effect of cells. When treated with VOAS(50 μg·mL^-1), the effect of VOAS on autophagy was observed by acridine orange staining and electron microscopy, Western blotting was used to detect the expression of autophagy hallmark protein(LC3B, Beclin-1, Atg5) and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal pathway. RESULTS The 6.25-100 μg·mL^-1 VOAS could significantly inhibit the proliferation of LOVO cells in dose-dependent manner, and VOAS(50 μg·mL^-1) could promote autophagy. Furthermore, VOAS(50 μg·mL^-1) could up-regulate the expression of LC3B-II, Beclin-1 and Atg5 protein that related to autophagy, and down-regulate the expression of PI3K, p-Akt and p-mTOR protein. CONCLUSION VOAS may induce autophagy in human colorectal cancer LOVO cells through inhibiting PI3K/Akt/mTOR signal transduction pathway.