Indirect solar convective drying is less energy intensive, and affordable. Thus, the study was carried out to investigate the efficiency of indirect solar convective dryer system by determination of the different characteristics of the dryer and to evaluate the effects of both drying and storage period on fruit quality. Sweet cherry of "Burial . " cultivar were dried at 60, 70 and 80 degrees C, then stored for one year and analyzed for total phenolics, antioxidant activity, total fiavonoids and total anthocyanins. Experimental results showed that the effective moisture diffusivity determined by Fick's second law varied from 2.85 x 10(-9) to 6.51 x 10(-9) m(2)/s, and the activation energy value was 2388.67 kJ/kg. Total energy consumption and the specific electrical energy of dried cherry showed a downward trend with increasing temperature. The Midilli-Kucuk model was the best fitted model for drying cherry. In addition, evaluation of 12-months stored dried cherry showed highest retention of total phenolics and antioxidant activity, while total flavonoids and anthocyanins decreased by 24 and 33%, respectively. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.