The study analysed volatile aromatic compounds of marjoram (Origanum majorana L.), steam sterilized using a method developed and implemented at the Institute of Agricultural and Food Biotechnology in Warsaw, at the Division of Food Concentrates in Poznań (Poland). Contents of aromatic compounds were determined in production tests of marjoram before and after sterilization. Fourteen aromatic compounds of marjoram were identified and assayed. Using olfactometry it was found that the dominant aroma both before and after sterilization was the aroma defined as balsamic, whose equivalent is cis-sabinene hydrate, in spite of the fact that linalol was a quantitatively dominant compound. After sterilization cis-sabinene hydrate still remained the main odorant, although the intensity of its aroma decreased. It was found that the process of marjoram sterilization resulted in losses of total volatiles, amounting to approx. 49%, with individual compounds being lost to varying degrees. Sensory analysis showed significant changes in the aroma of marjoram before and after sterilization in most of the analysed production batches. Results suggest that the analysis of contents of the main odorant, cis-sabinene hydrate, may be a criterion in assessing changes in the aroma of sterilized marjoram and the assessment of the sterilization process.