CO₂ Puffing-Assisted Hybrid Drying: A Novel and Sustainable Technology for High-Quality Strawberry Crisps

• A novel hybrid drying strategy for sustainable fruits crisps. • Systematic balance of product quality, energy, and carbon emissions. • Carbon dioxide puffing (CDP) assisted vacuum drying (VD), and freeze-drying (FD) offers optimal quality with reduced environmental footprint. • Validates CO₂ puffing as a innovative technology for future foods. To meet the growing demand for high-quality and sustainably produced foods, this study evaluated the quality and environmental performance of strawberry crisps produced using a novel hybrid drying approach that integrates carbon dioxide puffing (CDP) with conventional methods including hot air drying (HAD), vacuum drying (VD), and freeze-drying (FD). A multi-criteria quantitative framework was applied to balance product quality and environmental performance. Nine drying combinations were assessed for nutrient retention, physicochemical properties, energy consumption, and CO₂ emissions. Among them, FD+CDP+FD best preserved bioactive compounds (ascorbic acid: 338.14 mg/100g, anthocyanins: 14.59 mg/100g, flavonoids: 8.46 mg Rutin/g), porosity, and microstructural integrity, but exhibited the highest energy consumption (19.04 kWh/kg) and carbon emissions (14.95 kg CO₂/kg product). In contrast, VD+CDP+FD and FD+CDP+VD offered a favorable balance between quality and environmental performance, reducing carbon emissions to 12.22 and 13.11 kg CO₂/kg, respectively. Principal component analysis confirmed that CDP-assisted hybrid drying strategies, especially those involving VD and FD, achieved simultaneous optimization of multiple quality attributes with moderate energy cost (p