Background : Codonopsis lanceolata is a perennial herb called as ‘Deodeok’ (더덕) in Korea. The roots of C. lanceolate has been reported to have some antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The chemically reactive saponins of C. lanceolata might be used as a capping agent for the surface of ZnO nanoparticle, ultimately making it a highly efficient photocatalyst. Methods and Results : In this paper, we report the one-pot green synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles via precipitation method using root extract of C. lanceolata. The structure of green synthesized Cl-ZnO NPs was characterized using XRD, EDX, DLS and morphology using TEM. The FT-IR exhibited the information about the functional groups that capped the metal nanoparticle and the formation of metal NPs was confirmed by UV–vis spectra at 356nm. The Cl-ZnO NPs were evaluated for their catalytic activity by measuring the degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in aqueous solution under UV light (365 ㎚). The result showed efficient degradation of MB, which was degraded 70% within 30 min by Cl-ZnO NPs. Conclusion : This study proves that the green route synthesized ZnO NPs from the root extract of C. lanceolata are low cost, time efficient, bio-degradable and non- toxic. The UVvis spectra confirmed the synthesis of ZnO NPs from C. lanceolata root extract. The Cl- ZnO NPs mediated catalysis exhibited high photocatalysis rate in short time. Ultimately, the green rapid synthesized Cl-ZnO NPs from root extract can be used as an efficient