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Essential oils (AE) are used as preservatives in the food industry, due to their physicochemical characteristics and antioxidant activity. The aim of this research was to determine yield (R), specific gravity (GE), refractive index (IR), antioxidant activity (AA) and chemical composition of AE of huacatay (Tagetes minuta), poleo (Minthostachys mollis), rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and sachaculantro (Eryngium foetidum L.), plants collected from 52 districts of the Amazon region, Peru. For each AE, fixed-effect variance analysis was used with three replications and cluster analysis. The antioxidant activity was determined with the free radical method 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydracil (DPPH) and its most abundant components were identified with headspace gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The differences in R, GE and IR were significant between districts. The AA showed no significant difference between the districts, but between the plants itself. Among the most abundant volatile components, 1-adamantanol (44.42%) was identified in huacatay, β-phellandrene (20.85%) in poleo, β-myrcene (34.59%) in rosemary and α-pinene (23.41%) in sachaculantro. It is concluded that the geographic location significantly affects the physicochemical properties of AE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]