Piper is a genus of high botanical, chemical, and pharmacological complexity. In this study, 15 species were collected and identified from two areas of the country, eight from the northern region (P. donnell-smithii, P. fallens, P. geniculatum, P. phytolaccifolium, P. psilorhachis, P. schippianum, P. sempervirens and P. variabile), and seven from the southern region (Piper amalago, P. jaquemontianum, P. oradendron, P. patulum, P. retalhuleuense, P. hispidum and P. umbellatum). From the sample, 10 species are native to Mesoamerica and the others are common to most of Latin America. Essential oils (EO) were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography. Very high chemical diversity was demonstrated among the 15 EOs. The number of detected peaks varied from 58 (P. oradendron) to 11 (P. retahuleuense). β-caryophyllene was common to 15 oils (16.8-0.2%), β-pinene to 13 (20.5-0.2%), α-pinene to 12 (9.3-0.2%), germacrene D to 11 (18.4-0.7%), and 10 to caryophyllene oxide (27.0-1.2%), α-copaene (2.7-0.5%), β-elemene (8.0-0.2%) and γ-cadinene (8.5-0.1%). In some instances, the EO contained an abundant metabolite, being the only one with this component, such as P. jacquemontianum (linalool 70.8%), P. amalago (nerolidol, 48.7%), P. patulum (1,3,5-trimethoxy-2-propenylbenzene, 33.7%, methyl eugenol, 24.6%), P. variabile (camphor, 29.7%), P. sempervirens (bicyclogermacrene, 28.5%), P. retalhuleuense (nerolidol, 28.2%), and P. schippianum (dihydroaromadendrene, 22.1%). The high diversity of EO composition from genus Piper was confirmed, as well as the possibility for agronomical development of some of the species due to the commercial potential of some of their components, such as linalool and nerolidol.