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Studies presented in this review contribute to the knowledge of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from marine organisms, especially macrolgae from the Adriatic Sea. Complementary methods were used for the isolation of VOCs from fresh and/or air-dried samples: headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and/or hydrodistillation (HD). The isolates were analysed by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A variety of different volatile compounds, mainly sesquiterpenes, diterpenes and aliphatic compounds were found in headspace and volatile oils of macroalgae Halopteris filicina, Flabellia petiolata, Dictyota dichotoma, Taonia atomaria, Padina pavonica, Codium bursa, and one seagrass Posidonia oceanica. Low molecular aliphatic compounds were found in the chemical profiles of headspace, such as dimethyl sulphide (DMS), tribromomethane, 1-iodopentane, 3-methylbut-2-enal, hexanal and pent-1-en-3-one. Aliphatic C8- and C11-compounds (e.g., octan-1-ol, octanal, oct-1-en-3-ol, 6-methylhept-5-en-2-on, fucoserratene and dictyopterenes) were also identified. Along with higher acyclic hydrocarbons, which are also found in headspace (e.g. heptadecane), in the investigated volatile oils higher aliphatics alcohols (e.g., (Z)-oktadec-9-en-1-ol, hexadecan-1-ol, (Z,Z)-oktadeca-3,13-dien-1-ol) and esters (e.g., diisooctyl phthalate, dibutyl phthalate) were found. Phenylpropane derivatives (e.g., benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol) and C13-norisporenoids (e.g., α-ionone and β-ionone) were also identified in the volatile profiles, as well as an array of sesquiterpenes (e.g., germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene, δ-cadinene, epizonarene, epi-bicyclosesquiphellandrene, β-cubebene, gleenol, (E)-β-farnesene). VOCs, identified in marine algae, could be useful for chemotaxonomic studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]