Steady state and time-resolved autofluorescence spectroscopies are employed to study the autofluorescence characteristics of human colonic tissues in vitro. The excitation wavelength varies from 260 to 540 nm, and the corresponding fluorescence emission spectra are acquired from 280 to 800 nm. Significant difference in fluorescence intensity of excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) is observed between normal and tumor colonic tissues. Compared with normal colonic tissue, low nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) (NAD(P)H) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), and high amino acids and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) fluorescences characterize high-grade malignant tissue. Moreover, the autofluorescence lifetimes of normal and carcinomatous colonic tissues at 635 nm under 397-nm excitation are about 4.32+-0.12 and 18.45+-0.05 ns, respectively. The high accumulation of endogenous PpIX in colonic cancers is demonstrated in both steady state and time-resolved autofluorescence spectroscopies.