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This study applied hot air-assisted RF (HA-RF) as second stage drying method for mango slices.Hot-air drying was used as first stage drying to reduce moisture content to about 40% (w.b.), then HA-RF drying was applied as second stage drying to further reduce moisture content to 18% within 45 min with 4.5 cm sample thickness (hot air temperature: 60 C, electrode gap: 7.5 cm). The time for the two-stage drying process was about 5 hr, which was clearly lower than that of hot-air drying (8 hr) or vacuum drying (7 hr). HA-RF as second stage drying maintained sample overall quality very well except for minor vitamin C degradation (retention rate: 91%);Overall quality of mango slices after the two-stage drying was better than that dried by hot-air drying, and close to that dried by vacuum drying. This study demonstrated HA-RF could be used as second stage drying method for mango slices. Practical applicationsThis study applied HA-RF heating as second stage drying method for mango slices, and research findings in this study indicated that HA-RF drying could reduce drying time and improve sample quality. This study proposed a new two-stage drying method for mango slices, and this technology can be easily scale-up for commercial application. And the two-stage drying efficiency and products quality could be further improved by other novel and efficient drying techniques as first stage drying.