abstract the essential oils obtained from the dried leaves, flowers, stem and root of centaurea zuvandica sosn. (compositae) were analyzed using gc and gc/ms. twenty components were identified in the oil of leaves with spathulenol (28.1%), -pinene (21.3%) and caryophyllene oxide (9.7%) as main constituents. fifteen compounds were identified in the oil of flowers with spathulenol (32.3%), -pinene (25.8%) and limonene (8.2%) as main components. eighteen compounds were characterized in the oil of stem with spathulenol (37.1%), -terpineol (12.8%), caryophyllene oxide (8.2%) as main constituents. in the oil of root, germacrene d (35.2%), spathulenol (15.7%) and -terpineol (11.6%) were found as main constituents. all oils consisted of monoterpene and sesquiterpene components.