Abstract: A natural red food pigment was extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza. The constituents were identified by thin-layerchromatography and in comparison with standard substance as 5 Tanshinone: tanshinoneIIA cryptotanshinone dihydrotanshinoneⅠ methylenetanshinquinone and tanshinoneⅠ. Several extraction methods and purification techniques of tanshen red pigmentfrom Salvia miltiorrhiza were compared and selected. The extracting conditions of tanshen red pigment were studied by using theextracting rate, cost, and absorbance as indices with orthogonal test. The results showed that the optimum parameterswere: alcohol reflux extraction three times, 1h at a time, and V(75%alcohol):m(tanshen)=5:1. The optimum purification methodwas:acetidin extraction. These researches provided the academic basis and direction for the use and exploitation of the tanshenred pigment.

Key words: tanshen red pigment, tanshinone, extraction technique, purification method, absorbance)(max/%11nmcmEl