Process for preparing brevifoliol

The present invention provides a process for production of an anticancer taxoid brevifoliol of the formula I from plants belonging to the genus Taxus by first extracting the dried and pulverized leaves of the plant with an alcohol preferably at a temperature in the range of 20-40° C. and then. concentrating the solvent to obtain an alcoholic extract. The alcoholic extract obtained is then adsorbed with an adsorbent and the resulting adsorbed material is then dried at a temperature ranging from 20-50° C. for 4-48 hours. The dried adsorbed material is then extracted with a combination of an aliphatic solvent and a chlorinated solvent successively and concentrated to obtain a residue. The residue is subjected to gross fractionation using column chromatography such as silica gel, florosil and silicic acid followed by chromatography with a suitable adsorbent to get brevifoliol.