en Food Safety and Hygiene Food Safety and Hygiene پژوهشي Original Article <div><span style="line-height:1;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><b><span style="color:black">Background: </span></b><span style="color:black">The increasing consumers&rsquo; demands for natural bioactive compounds can be attributed to the adverse effects of synthetic antioxidants. While <i>Platanus orientalis</i> leaves are considered waste material, they are a rich source of bioactive compounds. Conventional extraction techniques, however, have different drawbacks for the recovery of bioactive compounds. </span><span style="color:black">The current study aimed to optimize and evaluate the impact of microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) as an independent variable on bioactive compounds recovery from <i>P. orientalis</i> leaves.</span><br> <b><span style="color:black">Methods:</span></b><span style="color:black"> Response surface methodology was employed to optimize the extraction conditions and maximize the quantitative yield of bioactive compounds. Moreover, the influence of the MAE process on antioxidant activity and phenolic compound profile was investigated using spectroscopy and chromatography techniques. </span><br> <b><span style="color:black">Results:</span></b> <span lang="EN" style="color:black">The o</span><span style="color:black">ptimal MAE conditions were determined to be 300 W microwave power, 17 min irradiation time, and a solvent-to-sample ratio of 31 <i>v/w</i>. </span><span lang="EN" style="color:black">The extract obtained under these optimized conditions showed a higher concentration of valuable phenolic compounds, including rutin, gallic acid, myricetin, and catechin.</span><br> <b><span lang="EN"><span style="color:black">Conclusion:</span></span></b><span lang="EN"><span style="color:black"> The leaves of <i>P. orientalis</i> have the potential to be a source of bioactive compounds with significant anti-radical capacity. MAE is a potential modern technique to separate bioactive compounds from </span></span><i><span style="color:black">P. orientalis</span></i><span style="color:black"> leaves, which could</span><span lang="EN"><span style="color:black"> find further applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries.</span></span></span></span></span></div> Platanus orientalis, Agro-waste, Bioactive, Optimization, Microwave-assisted extraction, 209 216 http://jhehp.zums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-629-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Seyedeh Tahereh Fazeli tahere.fazeli97@gmail.com 100319475328460015703 100319475328460015703 No Department of Food Science and Engineering, Hidaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hidaj, Iran. Mandana Bimakr mandana.bimakr@znu.ac.ir 100319475328460015704 100319475328460015704 Yes Department of Food Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran.