Abstract: This study dealt with the isolation of anthocyanins from Morus nigra Linn. fruits grown in Xinjiang by high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC). The solvent system used consisted of methyl tert-butyl ether, butanol, acetonitrile, water and trifluoroacetic acid (2:2:1:5:0.01, V/V). Fifty-gram sample was injected. As a result, 4 individual anthocyanins with purities of 99.24%, 88.5%, 99.9% and 96%, respectively, were obtained. They were identified by HSCCC, UV-vis spectroscopy and LC-MS as cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside, pelargonidin-3-O-rutinoside, cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside, respectively. The HSCCC method was efficient, stable, simple and easy.

Key words: Morus nigra L., anthocyanins, high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC), ultraviolet visible spectroscopy, mass, isolation and identification