Molecular distillation residue (MD-R) from ginger had the most total phenol content of 247.6 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram (GAE/g) among the ginger oils. High-speed counter-current chromatography(HSCCC) technique in semi-preparative scale was successfully performed in separation and purifi-cation of 6-gingerol from MD-R by using a two-phase solvent system composed of n-hexane–ethylacetate–methanol–water (10:2:5:7, v/v/v/v). The target compound was isolated, collected, purified by HSCCC in the head–tail mode, and then analyzed by HPLC. A total of 90.38 ± 0.53 mg 6-gingerol wasobtained from 600 mg MD-R, with purity of 99.6%. In addition, the structural identification of 6-gingerolwas performed by EI/MS,1H NMR and13C NMR. Moreover, the orders of antioxidant activity were vita-min E (VE) > supercritical fluid extraction oleoresin (SFE-O) = MD-R = 6-gingerol > molecular distillation essential oil (MD-EO) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) = VE > 6-gingerol > MD-R = SFE-O > MD-EO,respectively in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH•) scavenging and -Carotene bleaching.© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.