Abstract:The effect of dry blanching with microwave at the power levels of 1-5 W/g on the polyphenol oxidase（PPO） activity of Pleurotus eryngii was evaluated.PPO activity was used as the endpoint for blanching pretreatment,and the mushrooms treated with microwave at different power levels were subsequently dried by hot air.The results showed that microwave blanching significantly shortened the drying time,while increasing the polysaccharide content and antioxidant capacity by up to 61% and 37%,respectively.Additionally,four typical drying kinetic models were established to predict the hot air drying process of P.eryngii after microwave blanching pretreatment.It was found that the Henderson model and the Logarithmic model demonstrated better fitting performance.Finally,observations via scanning electron microscope （SEM） and paraffin sections revealed that the collapse of the cellular structure was the main factor affecting moisture migration in P.eryngii.