abstract the essential oil from the roots of philodedron acutatum, collected in the north of brazil, was analyzed by gc/ms and retention indices. six samples were obtained in three different dates. thirty five components were identified, the main constituents were -pinene (0-23.2%), -pinene (0-21.8%), 2-undecanone (0-12.7%), 2-tridecanone (1.2-34.3%) and -bisabolene (0.8-49.5%).