A simple and rapid method based on hydrotropic solubilization is developed for isolation of forskolin from coleus forskohlii roots. The plant cells are permeabilized by aqueous hydrotrope solutions followed by extraction and solubilization of forskolin into the hydrotrope solutions of alkyl benzene sulfonates and carboxylates. The solubility of forskolin is increased by 350 times in the hydrotropic solutions and it is possible to recover 85% pure forskolin from the hydrotropic solutions by simple dilution with water. The purity of the recovered forskolin decreased from 85% to 70% oil decreasing particle size of the roots, Nearly 80% of the forskolin having 50% purity was recovered from the coleus roots using 2.0 mol/dm(3) aqueous sodium cumene sulfonate (Na-CS) solutions at 363 K. Na-CS showed the most efficient solubilization of forskolin from the Coleus roots among all the other hydrotropes.