the composition of essential oils extracted from leaves and flowers of five selected cultivars of myrtle (myrtus communis l.) growing in the same orchard was determined by gc/ms at the full bloom time. yields of essential oil by hydrodistillation ranged from 1.2 to 3.2 g.kg-1 of leaf fresh weight, while flower essential oil yield was comprised between 1.2 and 4.4 g.kg-1. fifty-one compounds were identified with a percentage of corresponding peak ranging from 94.3 to 99.8% of the total. the main components of the essential oils were 1,8-cineole, linalool, and -terpineol. dihydroeugenyl-butanoate was the main component of the flower oil of the 'daniela' cultivar with a rate of 19.45%, while in the 'barbara' flower oil reached the 21.24%. this compound was not previously detected in the essential oils of myrtle, as well as the dihydroeugenyl-pentanoate, which ranged from 1.40 to 6.82% when detected. other main compounds of the essential oils were -pinene, limonene, bornyl-acetate, eugenol, geranyl-acetate, and methyl-eugenol.