The volatile oils of apricot(Prunus armeniaca var. ansu Max.) and Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc.) were isolated by stem distillation-extraction. The resulting oils were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. A total of 80 components were identified in apricot, including 9 naphthalene derivatives of which had not been previously reported in apricot volatiles and 72 components were identified in Japanese apricot, The major components in apricot were n-hexanal(4.18% of total oil), traps-2-hexenal(11.57%), n-hexanol(14.38%), traps-2-hexen-1-ol(8.28%), cis-3-hexen-1-ol(2.60%) , linalool (12.61 %), α-terpineol (5.63%), geraniol (2.78%), trimethyltetra-hydronaphthalene derivatives(7.51%) and tetradecanoic acid(3.67%), while benzaldehyde(62.40%), terpinen-4-o1(3.97%), benzyl alcohol (3.97%) and hexadecanoic acid (4.55%) were major components in Japanese apricot. However, the characteristic aroma of apricot appeared to be due to combination of C_6 aldehyde and alcohols, terpene alcohols, lactones and β-ionone-related components and that of Japanese apricot could be due to the presence of benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol.