A high-quality Raman spectrum of p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) aqueous solution (10(-2) M) under ultraviolet (UV) excitation at 325 nm was obtained, which could not be observed with visible and near infrared (NIR) excitations due to the low concentration in aqueous solution. However, the surface-unenhanced Raman scattering of PHBA in silver colloid excited by ultraviolet was unexpectedly observed, which was quite different from the cases excited with NIR and visible light, by which the SERS effect was very remarkable. This indicated that the SERS of the PHBA-silver colloid system showed selectivity to excitation wavelength. The enhancement mechanisms at different excitation wavelength regions are discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.