Cholesterol esterase(pCEH, pancreas cholesterol ester hydrolase, E.C.3.1.1.13) which is secreted from pancreas has been known as an important lipase for cholesterol uptake. cholesteryl acyl esters from a diet must be hydrolyzed to free cholesterol and fatty acid by cholesterol esterase before the absorption in small intestine. For the development of inhibitory substances from natural source, we screened many extracts of oriental herbs for the inhibition of cholesterol esterase in vitro. The ethanol extract of Ephedra herba showed strong inhibitory activity. Solvent fractionation and silica gel column chromatography with the extract lead to the purification of the inhibitory principle in Ephedra herba. Crystallized inhibitor was identified as ( ) ephedrine by using UV, FT IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and GC/Mass. These results suggest that ( ) ephedrine can be used as a potential lead compound for the development of inhibitor for cholesterol uptake by cholesterol esterase inhibition.