LAURUS NOBILIS IS A PERENNIAL HERB THAT BELONGS TO THE LAURACEAE FAMILY. THIS PLANT IS CULTIVATED IN MANY TEMPERATE AND WARM PARTS OF THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY IN GREECE, SPAIN, PORTUGAL, MOROCCO AND TURKEY AS WELL IRAN. TRADITIONAL USE OF LAURUS NOBILIS LEAVES IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY IS CONNECTED NOT ONLY WITH THE FLAVORING BUT ALSO PROBABLY WITH THE PRESERVATIVE CAPABILITY OF THE SUBSTANCE PRESENT IN THE LEAVES. HERBS AND SPICES ARE IMPORTANT NATURAL ANTIOXIDANTS. THEIR ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY HAS BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO THE PRESENCE OF ALKALOID AND PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS.IN THIS WORK THE LEAVES OF THE LAURUS NOBILIS PLANT GATHERED FROM BABOLSAR IN THE NORTH OF IRAN.THE ESSENTIAL OILS FROM AIR-DRIED LEAVES OF LAURUS NOBILIS ISOLATED BY HYDRO DISTILLATION (HD) USING A CLEVENGER-TYPE APPARATUS AND ANALYZED BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY (GCMS).THE YIELD OF THE VOLATILE FRACTION OBTAINED WAS 1.4%. THE COMPONENTS WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE OIL WITH 1, 8-CINEOL, A-TERPINYL ACETATE, METHYL EUGENOL, SABINENE, A-PINENE, B-PINENE, LINALOOL, EUGENOL AS MAIN COMPONENTS. ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY AND TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT WERE DETERMINED SPECTROPHOTOMETRICALLY (UV-VIS). ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL EXTRACTED WAS EVALUATED BY PHOSPHOMOLYBDENUM METHOD. IT WAS EXPRESSED AS ASCORBIC ACID EQUIVALENTS. THE TOTAL PHENOLIC CONTENT OF LAURUS NOBILIS EXTRACTS WAS DETERMINED ACCORDING TO THE FOLIN-CIOCALTEU METHOD.