The fixed oil of Laurus novocanariensis (previously L. azorica) contains mostly glycerides together with minor non-saponifiable compounds. The direct identification and quantitative determination of costunolide and dehydrocostuslactone, two sesquiterpene lactones components of the oil that exhibit biological activities, is described. The analysis was carried out using 13C-NMR spectroscopy (signal acquisition with inverse gated decoupling of protons; diglyme as internal standard) without separation, derivatisation or any sample preparation.