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 DEG 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 DEG 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.
