abstract the essential oil from the leaves of campomanesia guaviroba (dc.) kiaersk., obtained by hydrodistillation, was analyzed by gc and gc/ms. sixteen compounds could be identified, representing around 94% of the total oil. the major components were myrtenal (27.0%), myrtenol (24.7%) and trans-pinocarveol (15.7%). the essential oil was also evaluated for dpph radical-scavenging activity by tlc autographic assay, antioxidant capacity by orac-fl assay and antiproliferative activity against leukemic cells lines.