abstract volatile constituents from wild calamintha nepeta (l.) subsp. nepeta harvested in the autumn in the vicinity of marseilles were analyzed by gc and gc/ms on nonpolar and polar columns, respectively. among the 120 identified compounds, the 11 major constituents were: menthone (52.7%), pulegone (9.1%), piperitone (7.8%), neomenthol (7.6%), menthol (4.3%), limonene (4.0%), isomenthone (1.7%) and 3-octanol (1.6%). several esters of isovaleric and 2-methylbutyric acids, 14 monoterpenes and 8 sesquiterpenes (hydrocarbons), and many other compounds were present in trace amounts including piperitone oxide, and piperitenone oxide. by comparison with other chemotypes, viz., c. nepeta ssp. glandulosa, described in the literature, our sample belongs to the menthone/pulegone chemotype which is the most common one. key word index: calamintha nepetasubsp. nepeta labiataeessential oil compositionmenthone