The identification of specific compounds inside floral organs is not sufficient to prove that these com-pounds are in fact

emitted directly from such organs. The identification of anatomical features designated as scent glands by staining with stains that have affinity to aliphatic compounds (Curry, 1987) is also problematic, because this methodology again does not involve the actual measurement of scent emission from such anatomical features (nor from any other part of the flower). The best approach has been to conduct headspace analysis on flowers from which certain parts have been excised. These investigations have found that while the same floral scent components are often emitted from several parts of the flower (although not necessarily at the same amount or rate), specific compounds may sometimes be emitted from only a subset of the floral organs involved in total scent emission (Dobson et al., 1990; Pichersky et al., 1994). There are many reasons why plants need to, and often do, vary the floral scent they emit during the lifespan of the flower, both in total output and in specific composition. there have been few studies concerning the biochemical synthesis of floral scents, and our recent investigation into the biogenesis of floral scent production. Terpenes, especially monoterpenes such as linalool, limonene, myrcene, and trans-bocimene, but also some sesquiterpenes such as farnesene, nerolidol, and caryophyllene, are common constituents of floral scent. In many taxa, there are scented species that are closely related to non-scented ones, leading to the inescapable conclusion that the ability to produce and emit floral scent is an easily acquired, and easily lost, trait (Dudareva et al., 1996). Moreover, considering that floral scent is a complex mixture of chemicals, and practically no two closely related species emit identical mixtures of volatiles, it is clear that the ability to produce a specific floral scent volatile is an easily evolved trait. but they also include plants whose secondary metabolites are valued for their characteristic aromatic or therapeutic attributes, or as main natural inputs to the proliferating perfumery and chemical industries. The aroma-yielding plants or their distilled volatile oils are known to have been, and in many cases, still are in use in various human activities, from religious ceremonies and adornments, to remedies and personal use, even before the re-corded history of mankind. As active flavour and fragrant ingredients of perfumery and cosmetic concoctions, the demand for these oils is also rapidly in-creasing in hygiene and health care formulations (e.g. oils from thyme, mint, basil, eucalyptus etc. in tooth-pastes, mouthwashes etc.) including fringe medicines (e.g. aromatherapy). Also, some specific oil constituents, used as chiral auxiliaries in synthetic organic chemistry and microbial transformations of common structures to give highly functionalized substances of enhanced economic value, is another dimension of their commercial importance. The world trade in essential oils is expected to continue to expand tremendously in the foreseeable future, as a consequence of the growing number and preferences of consumers and the wider spectrum of the uses of these compounds. The agro-industrial uses constitute a key impetus to the present rate of inter-disciplinary research on essential oil plants, targeted towards increased production and quality enhancement of the oils.