Different dehydrating methods combined with torrefaction were investigated to find the underlying mechanism that how dehydration process influence the degree of hornification. Hybrid pennisetum was selected as the experiment material. Oven-dried sample (ODS), crushed dried sample (CDS), and sun-cured dried sample (SDS) were torrefied under the temperature of 275 degrees C and 300 degrees C with the duration time of 60 min. The results showed that, changes in elevated carbon content and higher heating value (HHV) and reduced oxygen content of SDS were the most obvious under identical torrefaction conditions. Fuel ratio of SDS was enhanced most under 300 degrees C. It also had the highest devolatilization index (D-i). The combination of sun-cured dried with torrefaction under 300 degrees C caused lowest degree of irreversible hornification happened during dehydrating process, and different hornification degrees caused by different dehydrating methods effect the enhancement of fuel properties of lignocellulosic biomass material.