The effect of combining hot air with microwave vacuum to dry semi-dried lyeium, the effect of natural sun-drying, and the effect of microwave vacuum on fresh lyeium with different color-protecting methods were analyzed. Different drying methods, including a combination of hot-air and microwave vacuum, microwave vacuum, hot-air and natural sun drying were studied. The results proved that the quality of lyeium drying was improved by color protection. Drying in a microwave vacuum was better during the late drying phase rather than the early drying phase. The time to dry lyeium when combining the hot-air and microwave vacuum methods was 13.1h, which decreased from hot-air drying (34.9h) and natural sun drying (94.9h). The combination drying method produced better quality than the microwave vacuum, but the result was similar to the method of hot-air drying. The reservation rate of lyeium barbarum polysaccharide was very close to that of hot-air drying and natural solar drying.