The purpose of this study is to establish an extraction and analysis method for $alpha$-tocopherol, and to then distinguish among varieties. The $alpha$-tocopherol contents of 22 varieties of peanut seeds were analyzed by HPLC. Peanut seeds of cv. Palkwang were processed in two ways, by boiling and roasting. The $alpha$-tocopherol contents of the two types of peanuts were compared with fresh seeds without any processing. $alpha$-Tocopherol was detected at a retention time of 2.95 minutes. Five standards of $alpha$-tocopherol covering a range of $20{sim}100{mu}g/ml$ were made up in 2% isopropyl alcohol/n-hexane and analyzed in duplicate. The $alpha$-tocopherol contents differed according to extraction temperature. The contents were $85{mu}g/g$ or less at $10^{circ}C;and;20^{circ}C$ and $94{mu}g/g$ at $30^{circ}C$, but they were decreased at $40^{circ}C$ or higher. The $alpha$-tocopherol contents in 22 peanut varieties were $61.36{sim}96.80{mu}g/g$ according to variety. Fresh peanuts contained $106.7{mu}g/g$ of $alpha$-tocopherol, while boiled peanuts contained $108.8{mu}g/g$ of $alpha$-tocopherol, and roasted peanuts contained $109.2{mu}g/g$ of $alpha$-tocopherol.