ABSTRACT
The steam-distilled essential oil of the fresh flowers of Hedychium coronarium Koenig was analyzed by GC/MS. The detected components were identified by their retention times and mass spectral data, while the percentage of each component was determined by peak area measurement. Such analysis revealed the presence of 39 major components, of which 35 [94.27%] were identified. The major components were found to be benzyl acetate, hexahydrofarnesol, phytol, 3-methyleicosan-11-one, benzyl benzoate, bergamotine, myrcene and nerolidol. The results of the analysis showed that the composition of the flowers oil is quite different from that reported for those of the leaves and rhizomes. Antimicrobial screening showed that the oil had good activity against most of the yeasts and fungi, while possessing weak activity against the bacterial species tested