Background: Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is a widely consumed aromatic plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. Fresh and dried leaves are frequently used in traditional Mediterranean cuisine and in folk medicine. Scope and approach: For this study, an extensive bibliographic review on rosemary was carried out, including its main uses, components (both nutrients and bioactive), biological activities, interactions with drugs and potential applications. Key findings and conclusions: The nutrient composition of rosemary reveals a great amount of vitamins and minerals. The most well studied bioactive compounds are carnosic acid, carnosol, caffeic acid and its derivative, rosmarinic acid. The levels on bioactive compounds depend on many factors, such as the variety, plant part, edafoclimatic conditions, drying conditions (if applied) and extraction and analysis methods. Numerous biological activities of rosemary are recognized including antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, among others. Therefore it has a vast range of industrial applications such as food and food packaging, pharmaceutical, perfumery and cosmetics industries. This work was supported by Project Number PTDC/AGR-TEC/3366/2012 with the acronym Rose4Pack (Biodegradable active packaging with rosemary extract (R. officinalis) to improve food shelf life), and funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and COMPETE Programme [grant number FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028015]. Regiane Ribeiro dos Santos (BEX 8754/14-4) is grateful for a research grant funded by Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES) and Department of Food Technology, Institute of Technology, Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Denise Costa is grateful for the research grant under the project Rose4Pack. Tânia G. Albuquerque is grateful for the research grant (BRJ/DAN-2012) funded by the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, I.P.