Objective:To separate and purify the iridoid compound swertiamarin from Patrinia scabra Bunge by high-speed counter-current chromatography(HSCCC),and to preliminarily evaluate its antitumor activity in vi-tro.Methods:The solvent system of HSCCC was n-butanol-ethyl acetate-water(5∶2∶5),with the upper phase was the stationary phase and the lower phase was the mobile phase.The separation temperature was 25℃,the rotational speed was 850 r/min,the mobile phase flow rate was 2.0 mL/min,the injection concentration was 10 mg/mL,the injection volume was 15 mL,and the detection wavelength was 240 nm.The cell counting kit(CCK-8)method was used to detect the inhibitory effect of swertiamarin on the proliferation of five different kinds of tumor cells.Results:It showed that sweroside with a purity greater than 92% was isolated from P.scabra.Sweroside showed strong inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human liver cancer cells HepG2 cells,colon cancer cells SW480,lung cancer A549 cells,human chronic myeloid leukemia K562 cells,and cervical cancer Hela cells.The antitumor effects of swertiamarin showed obvious dose-dependent and time-dependent relation-ship.Conclusion:The study provided technical support for the application of HSCCC to efficiently isolate and purify swertiamarin from P.scabra,and provided ideas for the research of its antitumor activity.