abstract the air-dried aerial parts of m.spicata l. subsp. spicata, which were collected from eastern turkey, were subjected to hydrodistillation and the essential oil was obtained in a yield of 3.24% (v/w). the oil was analyzed by gc and gc/ms. thirty-seven constituents, accounting for more than 95.3% of the total oil composition, were identified. the main compounds of the essential oil were carvone (48.4%), 1,8-cineole (21.3%), -pinene (3.5%), -caryophyllene (3.3%) and trans-dihydrocarvone (2.9%). the antimicrobial activity of the oil was studied. it was evaluated against six microorganisms using the disc diffusion and broth microdilution methods. the oil showed great potential for its antimicrobial activities against escherichia coli, candida albicans, candida tropicalis and moderate activities against staphylococcus aureus.