abstract the composition of the steam distilled essential oil of dill herb (anethum graveolens l.) was investigated by gc and gc/ms. thirty six components were identified of which -phellandrene (56.5%), dill ether (20.8%), limonene (10.9%) and p-cymene (3.8%) were the major constituents and amounted to 92% of the oil. key word index: anethum graveolens umbelliferaedillessential oil composition-phellandrenelimonenedill ether