As one of the most frequently used medicinal herbs in China, Chuanxiong Rhizoma (Chuanxiong) is notable for its beneficial effects in alleviation of cardio-and cerebro-vascular disorders. Results from previous phytochemical, pharmacological and pharmacokinetic studies supported the contributions of 10 main components, namely ferulic acid (3), senkyunolide I (4), senkyunolide H (5), senkyunolide A (6), coniferylferulate (7), Z-ligustilide (8), sedanolide (9), 3-butylidenephthalide (10), riligustilide (11) and levistolide A (12), for therapeutic outcomes of the herb. To prepare a Chuanxiong extract, which is selectively enriched with these main components, the supercritical fluid extraction (SCFE) technique using CO 2 was chosen in the present study due to its superiority in extraction of lipophilic components, especially thermo-labile components from natural products. Eight Chuanxiong samples were extracted under different SCFE conditions. Contents of 3-12 in SCFE extracts and remained in herbal residues were determined using HPLC-UV and compared with those in 95% ethanol extracts of the respective herbal samples. The results showed that contents of 3-12 were generally enriched by SCFE with higher recoveries achieved for lipophilic constituents, including the three most abundant constituents 6, 7 and 8. Moreover, extraction yield of the less lipophilic 3, 4 and 5 was improved by adding ethanol as entrainer. Higher flow rate of CO 2 (10 -13 L/h vs 9 -12 L/h) enhanced the overall extraction, while lower temperature (32˚C vs 40˚C) reduced degradation of thermo-labile compounds, in particular 7, 8 and 10. Our established SCFE condition yielded high extraction recoveries for both total (75.6%) and three major chemical ingredients (6: 83.5%, 7: 77%, 8: 78.3%) from Chuanxiong with an adequate overall reproducibility, demonstrating a successful application of SCFE in selective enrichment of certain ingredients and efficient extraction of thermo-labile components from medicinal herbs using specifically designed SCFE conditions.