abstract the essential oils of two anacardiaceae species, schinus molle l. and schinus terebinthifolius raddi, native from brazil, were obtained by hydrodistillation and the oils composition studied by capillary gc and gc-ms. twenty seven compounds were identified for s. molle and twenty nine for s. terebinthifolius. the leaves and fruits essential oils for both s. molle and s. terebinthifolius were characterised by a high percentage of sesquiterpene and monoterpene hydrocarbons. the s. terebinthifolius essential oils obtained from leaves and berries presented differences with those previously described in the literature, while the leave oil of s. molle showed similar composition to that from uruguay. these findings have ecological and economic significance as s. molle and s. terebinthifolius are promising species in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and chemical industries. key words: anacardiaceae schinus molle l schinus terebinthifolius raddi