Pulse combustion drying was used for dry preservation of lactic acid bacteria. An antioxidant i.e., 0.01% ascorbic acid or 1.0% glutathione was added to skimmed milk (5%) and trehalose (5%) to protect against desiccation of bacterial cells. The survival rate of dried lactic acid bacteria was > 90% on addition of the antioxidants, while addition of only skimmed milk and trehalose resulted in a 27% survival rate. Neither oxidized ascorbic acid nor glycine demonstrated this effect. Therefore, addition of an antioxidant to prevent peroxidation of the lipid membrane of microorganisms is effective in maintaining the viability of lactic acid bacteria subjected to pulse combustion drying. This the first study to achieve a sufficiently high survival rate of lactic acid bacteria in order to develop a microbiological agent using pulse combustion dryer.