Abstract The essential oil obtained by hydrodistillation from three endemic Centaurea species (Asteraceae) in Phalolepis (Cass.) DC. Section; C. wagenitzii Hub.-Mor., C. tossiensis Freyn et Sint. and C. luschaniana Heimerl from Turkey were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), simultaneously. Main constituents of the oils were found as hexadecanoic acid (25.6 %, 50.6 % and 40.0 %, respectively). Fatty acids and their esters were identified as the main constituent groups of the three species.