The separation of active compounds from natural sources may encounter various problems, such as the compound of interest is of present only as a minor component in an extremely complex mixture. High-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) and preparative liquid chromatography were used successively for isolation and purification of gallic acid from pomegranate husk. The two phase solvent system of HSCCC composed of ethyl acetate-methanol-water (50:1:50, v/v), which has been selected by analytical HSCCC. Using preparative HSCCC and preparative liquid chromatography, about a 500 mg amount of the crude extract was separated, yielding 15 mg of gallic acid at a high purity of over 96%. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.