The extraction efficiency of anthocyanin in purple sweet potato was compared under different conditions in this paper.The results showed that the optimal extraction conditions were 15% acetic acid as extraction solution,40℃ as extraction temperature,60 minutes as extraction time,1:25(g/ml) as solid to liquid ratio.Under such extraction conditions,the anthocyanin content in crude extractive was 2.20 mg/g and the extraction efficiency was 1.03 mg/g by colorimetric method.The superoxide anion radical scavenging ability of anthocyanin was worse than ascorbic acid at lower concentration(0.7 mg/ml),but better at higher concentration(0.7 mg/ml).The hydroxyl radical scavenging ability of anthocyanin was far greater than that of ascorbic acid,and was close to 100% at the concentration of 0.5 mg/ml.The preliminary determination by spread plate method showed that anthocyanin inhibited the growth of E.coli significantly.