Brazil is the second great producer of figs in the world, preceded only by Turkey. Nevertheless, since the entire production is commercialized fresh and figs are highly perishable, a great parcel is lost due to inadequate handling, storage, and transportation. Thus, the objective of this research was to verify the effect of applying freezing drying process on quality and conservation of figs. The experiments were carried out at the laboratories of the College of Food Engineering and College of Agricultural Engineering at the State University of Campinas, Brazil. The figs (Ficus carica L.) of "Roxo de Valinhos" variety were harvested in Valinhos, São Paulo state, and immediately transported to the laboratory in cartoon packages. The fruits were first selected according to size, color, and maturity stage - half and fully ripened figs and then washed and drained. The initial physical and chemical properties of the samples were evaluated and resulted in 85% of humidity, Brix to acidity ratio of 3.0, and 0.98 of water activity. The samples were sliced in 47.5 diameter and 10mm thickness pieces and placed in aluminum trays. Next they were frozen at -18°C and dried until reaching 14% of humidity and 0.25 of water activity. The lyophilized fruits were evaluated again according to color, flavor, aroma and texture and stored in glass jars. In general the best quality results were obtained when using half ripened figs which did not present any shrinkage. The significant reduction in water activity and mass could allow conserving the fruit longer and reduce shipping costs. Valorial l'Aliment de Demain,CNRS,PONAN - Pole Alimentation et Nutrition,INRA,Pays de la Loire,Nantes Metropole Communaute Urbaine(1978) Official Method of Analysis, 952, p. 08. , Association of Official Analyst Chemists, AOACBermejo, M.V., (1999) Seminário de Liofilización Baxter, , Departamento de Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica. Faculdade de Valencia, EspañaCosta, G.Y., (2001) La Higuera-Albatera, , http://www.gva.es/albatera/informacion/higuera.html, Arquivo científico, access in 23 October, 2001Duan, X., Zhang, M., Mujumdar, A.S., Wang, S., Microwave freeze drying of sea cucumber (Stichopus japonicus) (2010) Journal of Food Engineering, 96, pp. 491-497Huang, L., Zhang, M., Yan, W., Mujumdar, A.S., Sun, D., Effect of coating on post-drying of freeze dried strawberry pieces (2009) Journal of Food Engineering, 92, pp. 107-111Krokida, M.K., Philippoulos, C., Volatility of apples during air and freeze drying (2006) Journal of Food Engineering, 73, pp. 135-141Krokida, M.K., Karathanos, V.T., Maroulis, Z.B., Effect of freeze-drying conditions on shrinkage and porosity of dehydrated agricultural products (1998) Journal of Food Engineering, 35, pp. 369-380Pacco, H.C., Quintana, R.S.C., Menegalli, F.C., Deshidratación por congelación de higos en rodajas (2004) Revista Anual de Ingeniería Química de La Univeridad Nacional Del Altiplano Puno, 10 (10), pp. 13-15Pacco, H.C., (2003) Secagem de Figo (Ficus Carica L) da Variedade "Gigante de Valinhos" em Secador de Bandejas, p. 158. , MS thesis, Campinas São Paulo, Brazil. Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos