abstract the essential oils of tagetes erecta l. leaves and flowers were analyzed by gc and gc/ms. forty-four constituents representing 94.1% of the leaf oil and 45 constituents of the flower oil accounting for 94.0% were identified. the major constituents of the leaf oil were limonene (7.6%), terpinolene (11.2%), (z)-myroxide (4.2%), piperitone (52.4%) and piperitenone (5.0%). the oil of the flowers contained limonene (6.9%), terpinolene (4.7%), (z)-myroxide (7.9%), piperitone (28.5%), piperitenone (10.9%), piperitenone oxide (7.2%) and -caryophyllene (7.0%) as the major constituents.