Objective To investigate the effect of berberis， aconite tuber， on the growth and metabolism of E. coli and to explore the feasibility of applying microcalorimetry to quantitative researches on the differences between coldness and heatiness of herbal medicine. Methods Microcalorimetric techniques were applied to evaluate thermal spectral profiling on the growth of E. coli at different concentrations of water decoctionand analyze the thermodynamic parameters. Results This Chinese Medicines both significantly influenced the thermogenic effects of E. coli. A positive correlation is found between the concentration of the drug and thermogenic effects. compared with the control group， the enthalpy value of the berberis group was significantly reduced. Meanwhile the enthalpy value of the aconite tuber group was significantly higher than control group. The inhibiting effect to the E. coli showed a significant increase in aconite tuber group and a trend toward lower inhibiting effect in berberis group. Conclusion The microcalorimetric techniques can be applied in quantitative classification of Chinese herbal coldness and heatiness.