Abstract:The cold air drying was an important method of drying water product. In this study，changes of moisture content，rehydration rate，texture，microstructure，color and sensory evaluation during cold air drying process of penaeus vannamei were investigated in this paper.The results showed that with the increase of drying time，moisture content of penaeus vannamei decreased gradually，on the contrary，the rehydration rate significantly increased. At the same time，the hardness and chewiness increased. Muscle fiber aggregated mutually so that the interval among muscle fiber bundles was extended，but the sample drying for 16 h still retained integral muscle fiber structure. After cold air drying for 16 h，penaeus vannamei obtained biggest a*value and most red color，and shrimp meat possessed excellent chewiness，rich flavor and highest sensory score.