abstract steam distillation of the aerial parts of mentha longifolia (l.) huds. ssp. schimperi briq. and mentha spicata l. growing in sudan yielded oil contents of 1.8% and 0.9%, respectively. analysis of the oils by gc and gc/ms revealed that both oils were found to be rich in carvone. twenty-two compounds were identified in each oil, the major ones being carvone (67.3%, 78.9%), limonene (13.5%, 8.8%), 1,8-cineole (5.4%, 2.6%), menthone (2.9%, 1.6%), linalool (2.8%, 3.2%) and isomenthone (1.2%, 0.6%) for m. longifolia and m. spicata, respectively.