Abstract:In order to evaluate the effects of drying method on the color and active components from Chaenomeles spiciosa(Sweet) Nakai, which was dried under low temperature hot air, then the change law of the chromaticity value, browning enzymes and the contents of some components were determined. The results showed that during the process of drying, there was a close positive relationship between the rate of water loss and the severity of the injured cell membrane, with the correlativity coefficient 0.989, while, there was negative correlation between the peroxidase activity and the severity of the injured cell membrane, with the correlativity coefficient 0.956. That is, the bigger severity of the injured cell membrane was, the water lose speed was higher, and the peroxidase activity was lower. The chromaticity value changed rapidly during 5~9 h, redden gradually in the start 5 h, and then turned yellow after 9 h, and at the primary stage of drying, the enzymatic browning was the main reason for color changes, and nonenzymatic browning was the main reasonat the late drying. The contents of total phenolics and total flavonoids decreased firstly and then increased, and then decreased and then increased. The contents of ursolic acid were no significant difference during the whole drying, while the content of oleanolic acid decreased firstly, then increased slightly and then decreased gradually. The metabolic mechanism of various compositions during the process of drying should be further studied.