Display omitted •Ultrasound used to intensify three phase partitioning (TPP) process of curcuminoids•Influence of different processing parameters on UA-TPP was optimized•Comparison of different processes based on yield, time, energy and operational cost•UA-TPP enhanced the yield of curcuminoids with drastic reduction in process time•UA-TPP also improved therapeutic properties of the extract in comparison with TPP In the present work, ultrasound was combined with three-phase partitioning (UA-TPP) for the extraction of curcuminoids from Curcuma longa. The effect of various process parameters viz. solvents, irradiation time, ammonium sulphate concentration, ratio of turmeric aqueous slurry to t-butanol, turmeric powder to aqueous ratio, and ultrasonic power along with duty cycle on UA-TPP was examined. The yield of 67.15 mg/g was achieved using UA-TPP in 20 min irradiation time at room temperature (30 ± 2 °C) using 30% (w/v) ammonium sulphate saturation, 1:1 (v/v) turmeric aqueous slurry to t-butanol ratio, 1:30 (w/v) turmeric powder to solvent ratio with 22 kHz frequency, 60 W power and 60% (6 sec ON and 4 sec OFF) duty cycle. The comparison study was done based on extraction yields, time, energy requirement and process cost required by UA-TPP, conventional TPP and Soxhlet. UA-TPP found useful not only to enhance the process but also to improve the antioxidant capacity and anti-inflammatory activity of the extract in comparison with TPP.