abstract the essential oils of the albanian thyme (thymus vulgaris l.) were obtained by steam distillation of air-dried plant material and examined by gc and gc/ms. over 86 compounds were detected in the oils, from which more than 40 could be identified. the main components identified were: p-cymene: (7.76-43.75%), -terpinene (4.20-27.62%), thymol (21.38-60.15%), carvacrol (1.15-3.04%) and -caryophyllene (1.30-3.07%).