An improved method that uses a single alkaline Al2O3 chromatography step was developed both for separating Taxol from the extracts of Taxus cuspidate callus cultures, and meanwhile converting other taxanes to Taxol catalyzed by the Al2O3 adsorbent. Under the optimized operating conditions, a Taxol recovery of 170% was obtained. The final Taxol content was 29% starting from less than 1% in the initial extracts.