Background: Plant of Etlingera elatior most to usage from the people of  South East Sulawesi as spices cooking or other medicinal traditional. To this plant have been shown essential oil’s biologically active. Objective: The aim of the study is to prove effectivity of essential oil compound from Etlingera elatior and biological activity as the antibacterial compound. Materials and Methods: The sample of Essential oil is rhizome that has been cut into small sizes and put in enlemeyer tube 200 mL, then with using water and steam distillation to extract essential oil’s and hot plate usage to the heating with set a range 230 ^oC temperature during 5-6 hours.  After that, the essential oil’s from hydrodistillation will be analysis data compound chemistry usage method spectrum GC-MS and to determine antibacterial activity carried out by antibacterial tested.  Results: The extract essential oil obtained from distillation process with a total of 10 mL. The rhizome essential oil  contained  Dodecanal, (36,09 %), Dodecanoic acid (15,54 %), Acetic acid (4,69), Tetrapentacontan, 1,54-dibromo- (3,94) respectively as mayor compound and 2-Undecanone (0,61 %), 2-Tridecanone (0,51 %), α-copaene (0,45 %), α-pinene (0,22%), 2-β-pinene (0,15 %), respectively as minor compound. The antibacterial activity of essential oil has been shown E.coli has inhibited activity preponderant than S.aureus. Conclusion: Based on these results, the rhizome E.elatior of essential oil extract has a potential effect as antibacterial activity.

Keywords: rhizome  E.elatior, essential oil, chemical compound, antibacterial activity.