Anthocyanins contained in sweet cherries are water soluble compounds responsible for their red colors. They possess interesting biological activities such as antioxidant or anti-inflammatory ones. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of developing a human health and environmental friendly process to isolate anthocyanins from sweet cherries. Following some green chemistry principles, the use of solvent was reduced, safe solvent and additives were used and waste production and energy consumption were limited as possible. In this purpose a solvent free microwave assisted extraction method was developed. With only 4 irradiation cycles of 45 s each at a power of 1000 W, anthocyanins were extracted without solvent added. As anthocyanins are degradable molecules the extract was safely stocked by a lyophilization step. Then, anthocyanins were purified by semi-preparative liquid chromatography using a safe and biodegradable isocratic mobile phase consisting in a water/ethanol/formic acid mixture circulating in a "closed loop" system. From 200 mg of crude cherries extract 1.0 +/- 0.3 mg of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and 2.0 +/- 0.5 mg of cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside could be recovered. Their purity was controlled by HPLC analysis and estimated at around 98% for cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and 97% for cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside respectively. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.