In this study, the extraction effi ciency, extraction kinetics, and extraction mechanism according to bubble size in gas bubbleassisted

extraction were investigated to recover paclitaxel effi ciently from Taxus chinensis . When the bubble diameters were

2.3, 2.7, 3.0, 3.3, 3.7, 4.1, 4.5, 4.8, and 5.3 mm, the maximum extracted paclitaxel concentrations were 0.812, 0.830, 0.845,

0.850, 0.868, 0.876, 0.900, 0.916, and 0.933 mg/mL, respectively. The results indicated that the paclitaxel yield increased as

the bubble diameter increased during extraction. Most of the paclitaxel (> 93.3%) could be recovered by a one-time extraction

when the bubble diameters were greater than 5.3 mm. The extraction mechanism demonstrated that the bubbles collapsed at

the surface of the extraction solution and created shockwaves that strongly impacted the biomass, which disrupted the cells.

When the extracted data were applied to various empirical models (second-order model, parabolic diff usion model, power

law model, and logarithmic model), the second-order model was found to be the most suitable. In addition, a model that can

predict the concentration of extracted paclitaxel was proposed using regression analysis of the equilibrium concentration

and initial extraction rate according to the bubble diameter. The experimental data and the predicted data were found to be

in agreement.