Abstract:In this paper，the effects of infrared and hot air drying on the drying efficiency of mulberry leaves and on the removal of astringency of mulberry leaves by four methods of sodium hydroxide，gelatin，sodium hydroxy+ gelatin，and gelatin+ sodium hydroxide were investigated using naturally air-dried mulberry leaves as the control.The correlation between them and astringency was researched by analyzing the changes in the contents of tannin，flavonoids，and polyphenols. The experimental results showed that the highest drying efficiency（the drying time of 1.53 h）was achieved under infrared drying at 105 ℃，and the astringency response of mulberry leaves treated with gelatin+sodium hydroxide under infrared drying at 60 ℃（ID60-GS）was 2.50 lower than that of the naturally air-dried mulberry leaves. The results of the component analysis showed that the content of tannin contributing to astringency was reduced by 74.36% in the ID60-GS group compared with the naturally air-dried group；flavonoid content was decreased by 56.69%；polyphenol content was reduced by 80.67%. In conclusion，infrared drying at 105 ℃ was the most efficient drying method，with the shortest drying time and the most water loss. Infrared drying at 60 ℃ combined with gelatin + sodium hydroxide was the most favorable method to remove astringency.