For the first time, the ethanol as pre-treatment to the ultrasound-assisted convective drying of food was evaluated. Pre-treatments were performed by immersion of apple slices in ethanol (0-30 min). Pre-treated samples were convectively dried (50 degrees C, 1 m s(-1)), without/with ultrasound (21.77 kHz, 20.5 kW/m(3)). As results, if both technologies were considered, conventional drying time reduction reached 70 +/- 2%. From drying kinetics modelling, it was identified that ethanol pre-treatments mainly reduced the external resistance to mass transfer, while ultrasound had a greater influence on the internal one. In dried samples, as the ethanol pre-treatment time increased, the shrinkage decreased, and their rehydration capacity was greater. After rehydration, samples showed a decrease of> 85% in viscoelastic characteristics. The antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content were bet...