Ten compounds were isolated from the dichloromethane extract of Atractylodes macrocephala and their aromatase inhibiting activities were tested using an in vitro fluorescent-based aromatase assay. The results indicated that atractylenolide I, atractylenolide II and atractylenolide III had inhibition ratios of 94.56 ± 0.70%, 90.93 ± 1.41% and 86.31 ± 8.46%, respectively, at a concentration of 10 μM. We conclude from our results that atractylenolide and its derivates may serve as potential aromatase inhibitors (AIs) and thus merit continued study in the future.