Autohydrolysis, which is an eco-friendly technology that employs only water as extraction solvent, was used to extract antioxidant phenolic compounds from spent coffee grounds (SCG). Experimental assays were carried out using different temperatures (160-200 degrees C), liquid/solid ratios (5-15 ml/g SCG) and extraction times (10-50 min) in order to determine the conditions that maximize the extraction results. The optimum conditions to produce extracts with high content of phenolic compounds (4036 mg GAE/ g SCG) and high antioxidant activity (FRAP = 69.50 mg Fe(II)/g SCG, DPPH = 28.15 mg TE/g SCG, ABTS = 31.46 mg TE/g SCG, and TAA = 66.21 mg alpha-TOC/g SCG) consisted in using 15 ml water/g SCG, at 200 C during 50 min. Apart from being a green technology, autohydrolysis under optimized conditions was demonstrated to be an efficient method to extract antioxidant phenolic compounds from SCG. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.