Abstract: Polyphenols were extracted and purified by boiling reflux,vacuum concentration,liquid-liquid extraction and macroporous adsorptive resin elution from Chinese chestnut shells,and the inhibiting effect on α-glycosidase was investigated. The static adsorption kinetic curves showed that AB-8 had good adsorption on polyphenols with the capacity of 4.41mg/g. The desorption rate reached above 95% with 60%(v/v) ethanol as eluent. The eluent p H and flow rate had low effects on the desorption rate. There was good overlap between elution curve of polyphenols and inhibition rate,which indicated that polyphenols could inhibit the activity ofα-glycosidase effectively,and the maximal inhibition rate reached 21.78%.