In this study, we determined the influences of different drying techniques such as natural air (ND), hot-air (HD), vacuum (VD), infrared (ID), microwave (MD), and freeze drying (FD) methods on the color, shrinkage ratio (SR), rehydration ratio (RR), firmness, crispness, microstructures, nutritional components, and free amino acids of Pleurotus eryngii. the results showed that these parameters were markedly influenced by different drying techniques. Among them, FD was the most effective drying method which retained the main characteristics of the fresh P. eryngii in above mentioned indexes, followed by ND and HD at 40 °C. Finally, despite the least drying time, MD treatment was not suitable to the drying process of P. eryngii slices since it damaged physicochemical properties and caused massive losses of the main nutrients and free amino acids. The results will provide a theoretical basis for industrial processing of P. eryngii. Pleurotus eryngii, often referred to as the king oyster mushroom, is called Xingbaogu in China. It is one of the important species of edible mushrooms commonly and has been widely cultivated and consumed in China because of its delicious taste, remarkable nutritional values and biological activities including antioxidant, antitumor, immunostimulatory activities, and modulating human gut microbiome 1-3. The P. eryngii can be widely cultivated in lots of agricultural and industrial wastes conveniently and cheaply 4. The production of the cultivated P. eryngii increased substantially at a rate of about 3 × 10 8 kg/year in Asia 5. Fresh P. eryngii slices can be cooked and retained its own firm textures 1 , and also can be fabricated into canned foods. Nevertheless, fresh P. eryngii is also one of the most perishable food raw materials and readily loses the best edible quality immediately after harvest because of its high in respiration rate, moisture content and nutrients, all of which made it easy to lose water or be attacked by microbes. Its shelf-life only reached about 3 weeks under the appropriate conditions 6,7. Therefore, an effective preservation method was required for the industrial production and application of P. eryngii to extend its shelf-life. Drying is a widely used and comparatively cheaper method for shelf-life extension of highly perishable mushrooms as it limited microbial growth, inhibited enzyme activity, and slowed down many moisture mediated reactions 8-10. In addition, dried P. eryngii can be also accepted by consumers with a similar high scores like fresh P. eryngii in all acceptability attributes (color, taste, and so on) and a strong purchase decision 11. Drying methods are mainly composed of ND, HD, VD, fluidized bed drying, ID, MD, and FD based on different drying mechanisms 12,13. For the reason that drying is a complex process involving continuous heat and mass transfer, it may accompany with significant changes in the nutrients, phytochemicals compositions, surface morphology and internal structure as well as physical properties of the products 8,9,14-16 , and ...