Abstract: The special chemical structure, bioactivity, separation and purification method of polyphenols from plant were introduced in this paper. After the advantages and disadvantages of different methods were compared, the results showed that macroporous adsorption resin method had a unique advantage in purification of polyphenols. The characteristics, separation principal, mechanism of adsorption, and desorption of macroporous adsorption resin were emphatically introduced in the paper. The present application progress in domestic and international researches of macroporous adsorption resin in the separation and purification of plant polyphenols was also described and its application was prospected too.