Lebanese Science Journal, Vol. 18, No. 2, 2017 234 http://dx.doi.org/10.22453/LSJ-018.2.234-243 National Council for Scientific Research – Lebanon 2017© lsj.cnrs.edu.lb/vol-18-no-2-2017/ OPTIMIZATION OF EXTRACTION CONDITIONS FOR PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS FROM SALVIA CHUDAEI Roukia Hammoudi 1 , Siham Khenfer 1 , Maroua Medjouel 1 , Mohamed Laid Tlili 2 , Mahfoud Hadj Mahammed 3 1 Ouargla Univ., Fac. Natural and Life Sciences, Lab. Biogeochemistry of Desert Environments, Ouargla, Algeria . 2 Eloued Univ., Fac. Natural and Life Sciences, Lab. Biogeochemistry of Desert Environments, Ouargla, Algeria . 3 Ouargla Univ., Fac. Applied Sciences, Lab. Biogeochemistry of Desert Environments, Ouargla, Algeria. rokia1811@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Hammoudi, Roukia, Siham Khenfer, Maroua Medjouel, Mohamed Laid Tlili and Mahfoud Hadj Mahammed. 2017. Optimization of extraction conditions for phenolic compounds from Salvia chudaei. Lebanese Science Journal. Vol. 18, No. 2: 234-243. This study focused on optimization of the extraction conditions of phenolic compounds from the aerial and the underground parts of a medicinal plant, endemic in the Algerian Sahara: Salvia chudaei Batt. & Trab. (Lamiaceae). This plant has been subjected to two extraction methods (soxhlet and maceration), with optimization of extraction conditions (solvent, concentration, time and temperature). The best extracts based on the antioxidant capacity using two tests (FRAP and DPPH) were obtained by ethanol 80% as solvent and extraction period of 100 min for the aerial part and 20 min for the underground part by soxhlet method, whereas, 60 min at 30°C for the aerial part and 15°C for the underground part were appropriate for extraction by maceration. Keywords: Salvia chudaei, optimization, extraction, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity. INTRODUCTION For a long time, medicinal plants have played a key role in the conservation of human health and the survival of humanity (Iserin, 2001; Machiex et al., 2005). According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are more than 4,000 medicinal plants, which constitute 90% of the African traditional medicine (OMS, 2003). Algeria has a great diversity of flora for therapeutic uses (Hamzaa et al., 2010). Currently, industries are developing more and more processes using extracts and active ingredients of plant origin, such as polyphenols. These compounds have been particularly studied for their use in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food for their beneficial health effects (Hirasa and Takemasa, 1998), and their different biological properties such as anticarcinogenic, anti-thrombotic, and vasodilatory cardioprotective were reported by several workers (Middleton et al., 2000; Ksouri et al., 2007; Nijveldt et al., 2001). The genus Salvia, the largest genus in the family Lamiaceae, includes around 900 species distributed worldwide. Many Salvia spp. are used as herbal tea and food flavorings, and in cosmetics, perfumes and pharmaceuticals. Salvia species have been reported to have a wide range of biological activities, including cholinesterase inhibitors, antibacterial, antimalarial, anti-cancer and antioxidant properties (Perry et al., 2003; Tepe et al., 2005; Kamatou et al., 2005; Kotan et al., 2008). Most of these reported beneficial characteristics were attributed to the presence of phenolic compounds. However, to the best of our knowledge, optimization of extraction of phenolic antioxidants from Salvia chudaei has not been reported yet. Therefore, the objective of this study is to optimize the extraction conditions of phenolic compounds (solvent, solvent concentration, extraction time and temperature), from aerial and the underground parts of Salvia chudaei from the region of Tamanrasset (Algerian Sahara) by two extraction methods, maceration and Soxhlet.