Carbonaceous material prepared from oriental cherry can be used for the adsorption of zinc ion from an aqueous solution. Parameters such as pH (4-11), temperature (293-333 K), mixing intensity (10-120 rpm) and contact time (0.5- 90 min) were studied. Increasing pH (99.6% at pH 11) and temperature (99.8% at 333 K) caused an increase in adsorption capacity. A pseudo-equilibrium state was reached within 1 min of contact time. Removal efficiency of zinc ion remained constant regardless of mixing intensity. The adsorption equilibrium data were best represented by the Freundlich adsorption isotherm. The calculated maximum adsorption capacity was 3.541 mg/g. Thermodynamic studies demonstrated that the adsorption process was spontaneous with Gibb’s free-energy values ranging between -3.272 and -15.594 kJ/mol and endothermic with an enthalpy value of 86.984 kJ/mol. Therefore, carbonaceous material from oriental cherry was shown to have good potential for the adsorption of zinc ion.