ABSTRACT The traditional way of harvesting lotus root consumes a lot of labor and has low harvesting efficiency. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the automated harvesting device of lotus root. And the physical and mechanical properties of lotus root are crucial for the design of harvesting device. In this study, the mechanical properties of "Baoying Beauty Red" and "E-Lian No.7" lotus roots in different positions were tested by compression, bending and tensile methods. The results showed that the mechanical properties of "Baoying Beauty Red" were better than those of "E-Lian No.7", which were not easy to be damaged during harvesting, and the minimum compressive strength of "Baoying Beauty Red" was 4.04 MPa, the minimum bending force of lotus root breakage was 97 N, and the minimum tensile force was 182.73 N.