We reported a new application of silver nanoparticles (NPs) for the visual sensing of aromatic polyphenols, such as gallic acid, pyrogallol and tannic acid, which is based on the intensified plasmon absorbance signals and visual changes from yellow to orange due to hydrogen-bonding recognition and subsequent catalytic oxidation of the target phenols by chitosan-capped Ag NPs (Ch-Ag NPs). The Ch-Ag NPs are generated by the well-known reaction of AgNO3 with NaBH4 and stabilized with chitosan which is a polysaccharide biopolymer with excellent dispersive properties and stability in aqueous media. After optimizing some experimental conditions, a very simple and facile sensing system has been developed for the detection of gallic acid, pyrogallol and tannic acid in water samples. The proposed system promises high selectivity toward gallic acid, pyrogallol and tannic acid, and other phenolic compounds including p-aminobenzoic acid, pentachlorophenol, 2,4,6-trinitrophenol, 2,4-dinitrophenol, p-nitrophenol, 1-naphthol, β-naphthol, p-aminophenol, catechol, hydroquinone, m-dihydroxybenzene, phloroglucin and phenol could not induce a color change even at 0.1 mM. The outstanding selectivity property of the proposed method for gallic acid, pyrogallol and tannic acid resulted from the Ch-Ag NPs-mediated reduction of Ag(+) by the target phenols. Also, a wide linear response range was obtained for the three targets. The linear response ranges for gallic acid, pyrogallol, and tannic acid were from 1 × 10(-5) to 1 × 10(-3) M, 1 × 10(-5) to 1 × 10(-2) M and 1 × 10(-6) to 1 × 10(-4) M with a respective detection limit (DL) of 1 × 10(-5), 1 × 10(-5), and 1 × 10(-6) M. The proposed method was successfully applied to detect target phenols in environmental water samples. Furthermore, because the color change from yellow to orange is observable by the naked eye, it is easy to realize visual detection of the target phenols without any instrumentation or complicated design. The experimental results reported here open up an innovative application of the catalytic reactivity of Ag NPs.