Abstract: “Wantuo” is a special snack in Shanxi Province. In order to find a suitable thawing method for the frozen buckwheat “wantuo”， the influence of 4 thawing methods， including microwave thawing， ultrahigh pressure thawing， vacuum thawing and natural air thawing， on the quality of buckwheat “wantuo” was studied. It was shown that it cost the longest thawing time by natural air thawing， and the colony number was the highest after thawing. The thawing time was shortened by vacuum thawing than natural air thawing. But compared with control， the sensory score of “wantuo” after vacuum thawing was lower， as the hardness increased and the chewiness went bad. After ultrahigh pressure thawing， the colony number was the least. However， the sensory score of “wantuo” decreased as compared with control. The hardness increased and thus decreased the flavor of “wantuo”. Among all the tested thawing methods， it cost the shortest time by microwave thawing， and there was no significant difference in the quality from the control. The colony number after thawing was acceptable. Thus， microwave thawing was the most suitable thawing method for buckwheat “wantuo” to maintain its special flavor.

Key words: thawing methods, buckwheat “wantuo”, quality