Abstract: The process of microwave extraction is a non-linear and undetermined behaviour. In this paper, with the extraction of flavonoids as example, a new method was build: the microwave extraction process was simulated by artificial neural network, and the technical parameters were optimized by genetic algorithms. After optimization, the best technology was the ratio 6. 25 between solvent and material, alcohol density of 54%, 456 microwave power, 11.3 minute extracting time, and stir-rate 483 r/min. Under these conditions, the actual output of flavonoids is 0.796%. Comparison experiment results confirmed that: with the objective of reaching the same rate of extraction, microwave method is better than conventional method on the dosage of impregnant and the recovery rate etc.

Key words: neural network, genetic algorithms, optimization, flavonoids, microwave-Assisted extraction