abstract the essential oil of myrtus communis obtained from plants grown in culture in vitro as well as from plants harvested at natural location was analyzed. in the oil of in vitro grown plants 18 compounds were identified, while in the oil from the wild growing plants 35 compounds were identified. in the oil obtained from plants harvested in the wild the fraction of monoterpene hydrocarbons represented 28.9%, oxygenated monoterpenes represented 61.6% of die whole oil, whereas die sesquiterpene fraction represented 1.8% and other compounds 0.2% of the total oil composition. in the oil of cultivated plants, the fraction of monoterpene hydrocarbons represented 64.8%, oxygenated monoterpenes 6.3% and die sesquiterpene fraction represented 2.4% of the oil composition. in both cases die most abundant compounds were -pinene (21.3% and 54.6%) and 1,8-cineole (22.0% and 7.6%).