the effect of different drying methods(shade-drying,sun-drying,hot-air drying,microwave-drying and freeze-drying) on the antioxidant activity and chemical composition of Nelumbo nucifera was studied.Compared with ascorbic acid,antioxidant activity of Nelumbo nucifera dried by different methods was measured and evaluated by reducing power,DPPH radical scavenging and hydroxyl radical scavenging three in vitro models.The content of flavonoid,total phenolic and anthocyanin were also determined.The results indicated that the extract of Nelumbo nucifera had remarkable abilities in reducing power,scavenging DPPH radical and hydroxyl radical;Antioxidant activity and the contents of active components showed significant differences among different drying methods.Freeze drying showed the best results on antioxidant activity and the content of flavonoid,total phenolic and anthocyanin at 60.20 mg/g,85.35 mg/g and 15.03 μg/100g respectively.Sun-drying was the worst in antioxidant activity and the content of flavonoid,total phenolic and anthocyanin was 0.39 mg/g,19.08 mg/g and 0.28 μg/100 g respectively.The study effectively evaluated the effects of different drying methods on antioxidant activity and chemical composition of Nelumbo nucifera.