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Triadica sebifera (T. sebifera) has attracted much attention because of the high oil content in its seeds, but there are few systematic studies on the phenolic compounds of T. sebifera leaves (TSP). In this study, the extraction process of TSP was optimized by response surface methodology. The phenolic components of these extracts were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Moreover, the effects of hot air drying (HD), vacuum drying (VD) and freeze drying (FD) on the antioxidant activity and characterization of T. sebifera leaf extract (TSLE) were evaluated. Under the conditions of ethanol concentration 39.8%, liquid–solid ratio (LSR) 52.1, extraction time 20.2 min and extraction temperature 50.6 °C, the maximum TSP yield was 111.46 mg GAE/g dw. The quantitative analysis and correlation analysis of eight compounds in TSP showed that the type and content of phenolic compounds had significant correlations with antioxidant activity, indicating that tannic acid, isoquercitrin and ellagic acid were the main components of antioxidant activities. In addition, through DPPH and ABTS determination, VD-TSLE and FD-TSLE showed strong scavenging ability, with IC50 values of 138.2 μg/mL and 135.5 μg/mL and 73.5 μg/mL and 74.3 μg/mL, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) infrared spectroscopy revealed small differences in the extracts of the three drying methods. This study lays a foundation for the effective extraction process and drying methods of phenolic antioxidants from T. sebifera leaves, and is of great significance for the utilization of T. sebifera leaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]