Abstract: According to the problem of low drying efficiency,high energy and poor quality during hot- air drying process,the effect of microwave power and material load on microwave drying characteristics of kernels were studied by using the single factor experimental method. According to moister dynamics of hickory during microwave drying process,the relationships between the dried basis moisture content,the drying rate and drying time were analyzed under different microwave power and material load.The microwave drying dynamics model was established. The results showed that the drying rates of hickory were markedly affected by microwave power compared with material load. The drying process contained two stages: speeding up and speeding down.Microwave drying of hickory was analyzed to meet the Page equation dynamic model.The experimental drying data of hickory were used to fit the drying model and coefficients of models were above 0.99.