The work aims to investigate the desiccation sensitivity of chestnut (castanea) seeds and study the effect of drying process on the moisture state of the embryonic axis. Samples were wild chestnuts of castaneamollossoma and castaneasequinii harvested in Henan Province. Two species of fresh chestnuts were rapidly dried with silica gel in airtight containers at room temperature and the moisture content (MC) and the germination were determined after different drying duration. Then, the embryonic axis was peeled off. Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the thermodynamic characteristics of the embryonic axis were analyzed. Afterward, the proportions of freezable water and non-freezable water were calculated as per MC and corresponding enthalpy of the embryonic axis. MC of C. mollossoma decreased from 49.51% to 32.97% after 8 days of drying, with a dropdown of germination from 78.33% to 8.5%. On the other hand, a smooth descent in MC of C. sequinii was reflected from 41.24% to 30.82% after 4 days of drying, with a similar curve of germination falling from 71.65% to 9.33%. Only a few seeds germinated when the MC was lower than 30%. According to the analysis of DSC, as drying duration prolonged, the MC of embryonic axis kept decreasing significantly and was positively correlated with onset temperature, peak temperature, and enthalpy of crystallization/melting stage. The proportion of freezable moisture in embryonic axis substantially reduced from 89% to 7.9% in C. mollossoma and an analogous trend happened in C. sequinii from 81% to 2.7%. Both C. mollossoma and C. sequinii of wild chestnuts are obviously-changeable on desiccation sensitivity. They are also typically recalcitrant seeds with germination rate highly affected by MC. Besides, the thermophysical parameters and moisture state of embryonic axis are also closely related to the degree of drying.