Abstract: Supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction technology was used to extract taxol from the needles of Taxus chinensis var. Mairei.The result shows that the best cosolvent is ethanol with 10%~15% water content and the best volumetric ratio of cosolvent to supercritical fluid is 0.12,and the best process conditions are extraction pressure 30 MPa,temperature 50 ℃,and time 2 h.Under the optimal conditions.the extraction rate of taxol surpassed 93%.

Key words: Taxol, Taxus chinensis var. Mairei, supercritical CO₂ fluid extraction