Abstract The chemical composition of cold-pressed mandarin peel oil from Cuba was studied by GC and GC/MS. Eigthy-five compounds of the oil were identified of which limonene (78.3 %) and γ-terpinene (7.2 %) were the major constituents. The composition of the peel oil is characterized by higher percentages of monoterpene and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and the presence of many aliphatic saturated and unsaturated aldehydes at lower concentrations.