Abstract: Supercritical carbon dioxide extraction is an advanced technique in extracting volatile substances,which works at low temperatures,without any oxidation and deterioration.This method was first used to extract volatile terpenoids, such as α-pinene and β-caryophyllene, from the needles of Pinus tabulaeformis by means of alternating the factors of extraction pressure,temperature and time, and by GC and GC/MS monitoring.Resultsshow that the optimum extraction conditions including the pressure of 15 MPa, temperature of 40℃ and the time of 20 min.Compared with the former method of vapour distillation,the duration of this method is shorter and extraction efficiency is higher.