Abstract The oils from wild Eugenia dysenterica fruits harvested during three stages of ripening were analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. The most abundant group of volatiles were monoterpene hydrocarbons, accounting for about 68% of the total identified compounds. Limonene (25.8% and 24.6%), (E)-β-ocimene (20.3% and 21.7%) and β-pinene (12.0% and 14.2%) were the major compounds in the unripe and semi-ripe stages, respectively, while γ-muurolene (25.8%), β-caryophyllene (18.4%) and α-humulene (15.4%) became the major compounds in ripe fruits. The concentration of monoterpenes was high in the unripe and semi-ripe stages and decreased afterwards, while sesquiterpenes were intensively synthesized only in the last part of the ripening process.