The influence of the drying method on volatile compounds of Rosmarinus officinalis was evaluated. The drying methods tested were convective (CD) and vacuum-microwave (VMD), as well as a combination of convective pre-drying and VM finish-drying (CPD-VMFD). Rosemary drying kinetics was described by a simple exponential model for CD and VMD, while VMFD kinetics consisted of two periods: linear until a critical point and exponential beyond that point. Volatile compounds of rosemary samples were extracted by steam-hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC-MS. Thirty-four compounds were tentatively identified, with alpha-pinene, bornyl acetate, camphene and 1,8-cineole being the major components. The total volatiles concentration of fresh rosemary (135 g kg(-1)) decreased considerably during both CID (87.2 g kg(-1)) and VMD (61.9 g kg(-1)). CPD-VMFD was the best option for drying rosemary because the time required was relatively short (30 min), and the aroma quality was good according to both instrumental (100 g kg(-1)) and sensory analyses. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.