This work aims at identifying and quantifying the main bioactive compounds in hydroalcoholic extracts of Salix alba (L.) bark powders obtained by grinding and sieving. The influence of the granulometric class on antioxidant activity and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibition effect were investigated. Our study highlights that all granulometric classes revealed a high antioxidant activity and a good efficiency against the action of AchE enzyme. The 50-100 mu m granulometric class led also to the highest content in phenolic compounds (circa 52.7 mg gallic acid equivalent/g of dry matter). The best results were obtained for the 50-100 pm granulometric class: the IC50 value for anti-AChE activity reached 0.59 mu g/mL. These results reveal the interest of the fine grinding and sieving procedure to enhance antioxidant and anti-AChE activities of Salix alba (L.), as significantly higher levels of bioactive compounds were found in ground and sieved fractions in comparison with unground dry Salix alba (L.) bark. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.