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Background and objectives Fresh sweet corn is vulnerable to microbial damage and difficult to preservation at ambient temperature due to the high water and sugar contents. Therefore, in the present study, fresh sweet corn kernels were subjected to hot air drying (HAD), vacuum freeze drying (VFD), microwave drying (MD), and short‐ and medium‐wave infrared drying (SMIRD). Findings Different drying ways of dehydrated sweet corns were compared in terms of physical properties, nutritional components, volatile compounds, and antioxidant capacity. After thermal treatment, sweet corn will form more volatile components and increase the flavor of sweet corn, while sweet corn treated by VFD will lose a lot of volatile components and weaken the flavor. Conclusions The results demonstrated that VFD products exhibited higher rehydration capacity, more nutrient retention, and better antioxidant capacity with fewer volatile compounds. A total of 63 different volatile compounds were detected in dried sweet corns. The variety of volatile substances was the maximum in the SMIRD (55), followed by HAD (35), MD (28), fresh (22), and VFD (9). Significanceand novelty Overall, this study would be fundamental for selecting more applicable drying methods to obtain desirable quality of dried sweet corn.

Summary The study aimed to evaluate the potential ingredient of stigma maydis (S.M.) as a hypoglycaemic functional food. In the present study, waxy corn flour and corn‐resistant starch were used to make biscuits; the influence of S.M. extracts (aqueous extract, SMA; ethanol extract, SME; mixed solvent extract, SMM) on the physical features and in vitro digestibility of biscuit were surveyed. In the meantime, the α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase inhibition of different S.M. extracts were analysed. Compared with the control dough, 5% ethanol S.M. extract (SME2) dough was observed to have the lowest storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G"), hardness, water absorption capacity (P < 0.05), while creep strain was the highest (P < 0.05). Adding S.M. extracts could significantly reduce the L*, b* value and increase the a* value of biscuits. Besides, the S.M. extracts could decrease the glycaemic index (G.I.) of biscuits and reduce postprandial blood glucose levels. The GI of SMA1, SMA2, SME1, SME2, SMM1 and SMM2 was decreased to 62.47, 55.17, 51.46, 44.89, 53.05 and 50.11 respectively. Further, the addition of S.M. extract could show a certain inhibitory rate of α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase when added to biscuits. The inhibition ratio of 5% extract (SMA2, SME2 and SMM2) biscuit was higher than that of 1% extract (SMA1, SME1 and SMM1) biscuit (P < 0.05). As a natural functional component, S.M. extract could be a potential food supplement for type II diabetic mellitus.