Potential use of various extraction methods including conventional soxhlet, and three phase partitioning coupled with the ultrasound (UTPP) for the extraction of mangiferin from the leaves of Mangifera indica was evaluated and compared for the first time. The influence of various process parameters like screening of salts, sonication time, frequency, slurry to t-butanol ratio, solute to solvent ratio, temperature, pH, soaking time and power on extraction efficiency using UTPP was investigated to get the optimal yield. The optimized conditions of UTPP were found to be as follows: time 25 min, pH 6, ammonium sulfate saturation 40% (w/v), slurry to t-butanol ratio 1:1, solute to solvent ratio 1:40, frequency 25 kHz, power 180W, duty cycle 50%, soaking time 5 min and temperature 30 +/- 2 degrees C. The highest yield obtained for mangiferin was 41 mg/g under optimized conditions of UTPP in 25 min compared with TPP which yielded 28 mg/g in 2 h. The combination of ultrasound and three phase partitioning enhances the benefits of both technologies and makes this process an interesting alternative to down-stream purification steps. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.