Abstract: The essential oil from Rabdosia nervosa seeds was extracted by steam distillation. The components of the essential oil were separated and structurally identified by gas chromatlgraphy/mass spectrometry, the relative contents of the compo-nents were assayed by the peak-area normalization method with gas chromatography, and all components of the essential oil were calibrated with a standard mixture of homologous n-alkane series. 36 components were separated and accounted for 98.21% of the all peak area, among of them 34 components were identified. The major components of the essential oil were caryophyllen (16.55%), 3-hexen-l-ol (11.49%), 3-octen-3-ol(7.89 %), α-terpineol (7.18%) andα-Linalool (6.13 %), etc. The antimicrobial activities of essential oil from Rabdosia nervosa seeds were investigated. The results showed that the essential oil has antimicrobial activities of inhibiting the growth of experimental bacteria and inactivating them such as Escherichia coli (ATCC25922), Shigella flexneri 51065 and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC25925).

Key words:  , Rabdosia nervosa(Hemsl.)C. Y. Wu et H. W. Li； seed； essential oil； gas chromatography-mass spectrometry； antimicrobiala ctivity；