FOOD PRODUCTS THAT ARE VALUED FOR THEIR FLAVOR AND AROMA, SUCH AS HERBS AND HOPS, ARE OFTEN DRIED CONVECTIVELY (USING HOT AIR) TO PRESERVE THEM FOR SAFE LONG-TERM STORAGE. HOWEVER, MANY FLAVOR AND AROMA COMPOUNDS ARE SENSITIVE TO HIGH TEMPERATURES, AND CONVECTIVE DRYING CAUSES MANY OF THESE COMPOUNDS TO BE LOST. VACUUM DRYING, ON THE OTHER HAND, USES LOWER TEMPERATURES THAN TRADITIONAL CONVECTIVE DRYING. BY DRYING THESE FOOD PRODUCTS USING LOWER TEMPERATURES, IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO RETAIN THESE FLAVOR AND AROMA COMPOUNDS WHILE STILL PRESERVING THE FOOD PRODUCTS FOR LONG-TERM USE. USING HOPS AS A MODEL SYSTEM, WE WILL VACUUM DRY WET HOPS IN A LABORATORY AT A VARIETY OF TEMPERATURES AND PRESSURES IN ORDER TO DETERMINE WHICH CONDITIONS RESULT IN THE MOST FLAVOR AND AROMA COMPOUNDS LEFT IN THE HOPS AT A REASONABLE TIME SCALE. ALSO, WE WILL MONITOR THE FLAVOR AND AROMA COMPOUNDS THAT ARE LOST DURING VACUUM DRYING. USING SOLID PHASE MEDIA, WE WILL RECOVER THE COMPOUNDS THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE WASTE PRODUCTS DURING VACUUM DRYING AND EVALUATE THEIR PERFORMANCE AS A VALUE-ADDED PRODUCT THAT SMALL-SCALE GROWERS CAN ALSO SELL TO BEER MANUFACTURERS. WE WILL BUILD A LOW-COST COMMERCIAL-SCALE VACUUM DRYING OAST AND PROVIDE THE SCHEMATICS TO SMALL SCALE HOP GROWERS.VACUUM DRYING IS AN EXPENSIVE TECHNOLOGY AND IS NOT FEASIBLE FOR LARGE GROWERS, WHO WOULD OVERSATURATE THE MARKET WITH MORE EXPENSIVE PREMIUM HOPS. HOWEVER, SMALL SCALE GROWERS MAY BE ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY DUE TO THEIR SMALLER AGRICULTURAL OUTPUT. DUE TO THE RETENTION OF THESE FLAVOR AND AROMA COMPOUNDS, GROWERS OF HIGH VALUE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WILL HAVE A HIGHER QUALITY PRODUCT THAT WILL BE MORE ECONOMICALLY VALUABLE BUT WILL NOT SATURATE THE MARKET. ADDITIONALLY, RECOVERING SOME OF THE FLAVOR AND AROMA COMPOUNDS LOST DURING DRYING WOULD OPEN THE POSSIBILITY FROM GROWERS TO SELL THEM AS A VALUE-ADDED PRODUCT.