Abstract:Peony swallow is the first signature dish in shui xi of Luoyang. However, the production process is complicated. This paper took drying time, energy consumption, VC content, shrinkage and rehydration as experimental indexes to investigate the influence of saturated steap-heat pump combination drying on the drying characteristics of white radish, the main ingredient of Peony Swallow. The results showed that the drying rate and drying time could be improved obviously by lengthening the treatment time of saturated steam and increasing the number of treatment times. The drying time of white radish dried by the combination of saturated steam and heat pump was reduced by 10%-45% than that of heat pump, and the drying energy consumption was reduced by 13.67%-44.53%. The quality of dried radish products was the best when the combination of saturated steam (treated twice, 6-8 min each time) and heat pump was used. The VC content, rehydration ratio, whiteness, hardness and masticability were 50.22 mg/100 g, 4.03, 63.36, 5 457.90 and 2 829.68 g, respectively. Under this condition, white radish dry products aroma was pure, pungent flavor was light, texture was soft and smooth, edible quality was best. The experiment proved that saturated steam treatment could significantly increase the drying rate of white radish and improve its quality, which was suitable for application in the processing of peony swallow.