The beneficial effects of _S. herbacea_ uses on cosmetics, healthy food supplement and pharmaceutical applications were already highlighted [9]. Nevertheless, as stated, most of these studies were performed in _S. europaea_ and little is known regarding _S. ramossissima_ that is considered an alternative to salt and whose leaves are used for human diet [10]. The main applications of this species are in salads, canned or gourmet gastronomy [4; 10]. _S. ramossissima_ can be found in salt marshes at the coastline of Europe from the Arctic to the Mediterranean [2; 11]. In Portugal, _S. ramossissima_ is widely distributed in the salt marsh of Ria de Aveiro, being frequently used by the local population in cooking [12]. To the best of our knowledge, just two studies reported the extraction of bioactive compounds from _S. ramossissima_ and none of them using water as solvent [2; 4]. [PERSON] et al. compared the nutritional profile and the in vitro antioxidant activity of four edible halophytes, including _S. ramossissima_[4]. The authors used an UltraTurrax as extraction equipment and absolute ethanol (1:40, \(w/v\)) as solvent, and evaluated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents (TPC = 33.0 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight (dw) and TFC = 17.5 mg of catechin equivalents (CAE)/g dw), as well as the antiradical activity by a DPPH assay (IC\({}_{50}\) = 5.69 mg/mL) [4]. More recently, [PERSON] et al. screened the effect of different levels of salinity (ranging from 35 to 465 mM of NaCl) on the growth of _S. ramossissima_, as well as in the nutritional composition, antioxidant capacity and microbial quality [2]. The results revealed that plants cultivated between the lowest salinity and 200 mM presented the highest amounts of phenolic compounds [2]. The authors reported that the TPC varied between 6.18 and 12.9 mg GAE/g dw and the TFC ranged from 0.15 to 0.37 mg CAE/g dw [2]. The ABTS assay showed IC\({}_{50}\) values ranging from 4.44 to 2.12 mg/mL of the extract [2].  
Considering these achievements, the valorization of _S. ramossissima_ may be a sustainable and environmental-friendly way to obtain extracts with interest for nutraceutical industry. Nevertheless, the extraction process is a key step to acquire bioactive compounds from plants, with emphasis on the extraction technique and solvent employed, which should maximize the extraction yield [13]. For a long time, extractions were only performed with conventional techniques, mostly using organic solvents, particularly harmful to the human health and the environment [14]. Besides that, traditional methods are associated with high solvents volumes and extraction times, generating large amount of wastes and low extraction yields [14]. Due to these drawbacks, sustainable extraction methodologies employing green solvents, such as microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), arise as alternatives. MAE is considered an easy, rapid and low-cost technique, presenting as main advantages a quick heating, a low solvent requirement and a clean processes [13]. The microwave heating principle is based on the effect of microwaves (with frequency between 0.3 to 300 GHz) on molecules by ionic conduction and dipole rotation [13; 15; 16]. Many studies reported that MAE can be successfully used to recover high-added value compounds from plants [17; 18; 19]. The objective of this study was to recover bioactive compounds from _S. ramossissima_ by conventional extraction (maceration) and MAE using water as extractor solvent, aiming a new nutraceutical application. The TPC, TFC, antioxidant activity and in-vitro radical scavenging capacity were evaluated. Moreover, the characterization of phenolic composition as well as the in-vitro effects on intestinal cells and the presence of organic pesticides were screened.