Abstract: In order to improve the quality of scallops during drying,optimal conditions for pretreatment process were improved.Changes in appearance characteristics,nutritional ingredient and rheological parameters during the cold- blast air drying were investigated in comparison to traditionally processed samples.The optimal experimental conditions for pretreatment process were dipping the fresh scallop in the mixture of carrageenan and xanthan gum for 1 h,and the reboiling time was 1 min. Results showed that during drying,the variation tendency of moisture content were moderate,and the appearance scores were better in the optimized samples with beautiful shape,good integrity,and less number of cracks on the surface. In comparison with the traditional technology,the optimized process can effectively prevent nutritional ingredients losing during drying. In addition,rheological parameters such as hardness,flexibility,cohesiveness,and chewiness in the optimized samples were superior to those of the traditionally processed samples.Overall,the quality of samples by optimized pretreatment process was more nutritious with better texture during subsequent cold- blast air drying.