A negative pressure cavitation-microwave assisted extraction technique (NMAE) was first applied on extraction of seed oil from yellow horn. The operating conditions were optimized by a Box-Behnken design (BBD) test. Under the optimal conditions, the yield of yellow horn oil seed can reach 52 +/- 1%. The extraction kinetics of the NMAE method and soxhlet extraction (SE) method were also investigated. The results indicated that the NMAE method was more effective than the SE method. Therefore, NMAE was an efficient extraction technique for yellow horn seed oil extraction. At last, the extracted oil was used as raw materials for biodiesel production and the main Fatty Acid Methyl Esters contents were analyzed by GC-MS. The conversion yield of biodiesel can reach 96%. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.