Polyphenols are the main active components of legumes and have important effects on the antioxidant function of these foods. In this study， Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6051 was used to ferment 8 kinds of legumes， and the effects of fermentation on the content of phenolic substances and antioxidant activity in legumes were analyzed. The total phenol content of fermented red bean， kidney bean， broad bean， mung bean， soybean， lentil and pea increased by 24.19%， 57.89%， 123.78%， 172.90%， 225.32%， 300.00% and 343.17%， respectively. The comparison of 19 phenolic compounds in 8 kinds of beans before and after fermentation showed that fermentation affected the contents of catechin， epicatechin， salicylic acid and sinapic acid. The DPPH free radical scavenging rate， ABTS+ free radical scavenging activity and iron ion reducing ability of fermented mung bean， soybean， pea and lentil extract were improved. The total phenol content was significantly correlated with DPPH free radical scavenging activity， ABTS+ free radical scavenging activity and iron ion reduction ability (P<0.01)， catechin， salicylic acid and sinapic acid were significantly correlated with DPPH(P<0.01)， epicatechin was significantly correlated with DPPH (P<0.05). The results showed that soybean， mung bean， pea and lentil were the ideal food raw materials for preparing products rich in phenols and high antioxidant activity by using Bacillus subtilis fermentation， which is suitable for the development of fermented bean functional food.