To elucidate the changes in the drying characteristics and quality of yam slices subjected to infrared-assisted hot air drying under different preprocessing paradigms, the effects of four pretreatment methods, ultrasonic treatment (UT), pulsed electric field (PEF), 2% citric acid (CA), and hot water blanching (HWB), on the drying characteristics and quality of yam slices were investigated. The drying characteristics included drying time and effective moisture diffusivity (Deff), while the quality attributes assessed were color difference, rehydration ratio, and polysaccharide content. The results indicate that all four pretreatment methods significantly affected the drying characteristics and quality attributes of yam slices (P<0.05). Compared with the control group (C), the drying times for yam slices pretreated with UT, PEF, and CA were reduced by 33.30%, 20.01%, and 13.30%, respectively. In contrast, HWB increased drying time by 26.71% due to surface hardening. The Deff values for yam slices under these pretreatment conditions were 1.61×10-8 m2•s-1 for UT, 1.27×10-8 m2•s-1 for PEF, 1.18×10-8 m2•s-1 for CA, and 8.49×10-9 m2•s-1 for HWB. A comprehensive evaluation of the dried yam slices was conducted using the coefficient of variation method. The results showed that the UT pretreatment yielded the best overall quality. Specifically, the color difference value was 9.47, the rehydration ratio was 3.01 g•g-1, the polysaccharide content was 25.73 mg•g-1, and the drying time was 150 min. These findings provide a theoretical foundation for the drying process of yam slices.