High pressure as a new extraction technique was carried out to extract corilagin from longan fruit pericarp. The effects of different solvents, solvent concentration and solid to liquid ratio on corilagin contents were individually determined. The optimum conditions of high pressure extraction (HPE) for corilagin content were carried out also at various pressures (200-500 MPa), time (2.5-30 min) and temperatures (30-90 degrees C). The content of corilagin obtained by HPE (9.65 mg/g dry matter) was higher than the ultrasonic (7.91 mg/g dry matter) or conventional (2.35 mg/g dry matter) extraction. Thus, application of HPE obtained higher corilagin content and required less extraction time compared to other extraction methods. The pharmaceutical and food industry can be benefited by the usage of high pressure extraction technology. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.