abstract the chemical composition of leaf oils of helichrysum melaleucum rchb. ex holl., oenanthe divaricata (r. br.) mabb. and persea indica (l.) spreng. were studied by gc and gc/ms. twelve compounds of the oil of h. melaleucum were identified of which -caryophyllene (35.4%) and -curcumene (22.3%) were the major components; 36 compounds of the oil of o. divaricata were identified of which -bisabolene (17.7%), limonene (16.0%) and -caryophyllene (15.3%) were the major components, while 55 compounds of the oil of p. indica were identified of which (e)-avocadodienofuran (15.3%), (e)-avocadenynofuran (13.2%) and -caryophyllene (11.0%) were the major components.