Studies were carried out by basically analyzing the contents of conventional ingredients, inorganic elements and amino acids of five varieties of velvet antler. The contents of inorganic elements in velvet antler samples were determined by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The contents of amino acids in velvet antler samples were determined by spectrophotometry after being separated by an amino acid analyzer. The principal component analysis was applied to the study of characteristic elements in velvet antler. The results showed that crude protein, Ca, P, Na, Ba, Sr, glutamate and glycine are the characteristic elements in velvet antler. Velvet antlers (Cervus nippon Temminck and Elaphodus davidianus) were differentiated from others by the score plot of inorganic elements for five varieties of velvet antler samples. However, according to the score plots of conventional ingredients and amino acids, no differences were found among the five varieties of velvet antler samples. The similarities and differences of nutrients in velvet antlers were revealed by principal component analysis. All these data would provide important evidence for further exploitation of velvet antler.