The volatile constituents of the essential oil of wild Melissa officinalis L obtained from the Kurdistan province of Iran were extracted by headspace/ solid-phase micro-extraction and were analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Of a total of 14 compounds in the oil, 12 (85.7%) were identified. The main components were as follows: (E)-citral (37.2%), neral (23.9%) and citronellal (20.3%). Some physicochemical properties, such as the logarithm of calculated octanol–water partitioning coefficients (log Kow), total biodegradation (TBd in mol h1 and g h1 ), water solubility (Sw, mg L1 at 25C) and median lethal concentration 50 (LC50), were calculated for compounds 1–14 from M. officinalis L.
