The essential oils from leaves, stems, flowers and rhizomes of Etlingera elatior, an aromatic plant that are widely used in traditional medicine and as a flavour in local dishes were extracted. The essential oils were extracted using the hydrodistillation method and analysed by GC-MS. The percentage yield of volatile constituents of the leaves, stems, flowers and rhizomes were 0.0735%, 0.0029%, 0.0334% and 0.0021%, respectively. The leaf essential oil contained ß– pinene (19.7%), caryophyllene (15.36%) and (E)-ß-farnesene (27.90%) as major compounds whereas the stem essential oil were largely dominated by 1,1-dodecanediol diacetate (34.26%) and ( E)-5-dodecane (26.99%). The essential oils of the flowers and rhizomes contained the major compounds 1,1- dodecanediol diacetate (24.38% and 40.37% respectively) and cyclododecane (47.28% and 34.45% respectively).Zingiberaceae species are represented throughout the tropical and subtropical regions mainly Asiatic in distribution. The Indo Malayan region is the centre of diversity for the Zingiberaceae. Of the 50 genera and 1500 species known in the world, at least 20 genera and 300 species are found in Malaysia. Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith has had numerous generic designations through the years: Alpinia, Phaeomoria, Nicolaia, and Elettaria . It is previously known as Nicolaia speciosa Horans or Phaeomeria speciosa Horans..
Etlingera elatior (Jack) R. M. Smith is native to Sumatra, Indonesia and it has been found in many places throughout Southeast Asia. It is commonly known as ‘kantan’ among Malaysians. It is used traditionally as flavouring and medicine. These traditional uses may be explained by the presence of biologically active volatile
constituents . There were several previous studies reported that Etlingera elatior possess significant biological activities.
