Abstract The essential oils of the rhizomes and the leaves of Alpinia galanga Willd. from Bangalore and Hyderabad in India were analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. The oils of the rhizomes and the leaves from the two places were found to contain similar constituents. The rhizome oils from Bangalore and Hyderabad contained limonene (3.7% and 3.5 %, respectively), 1,8-cineole (33.0% and 30.2 %, respectively), camphor (5.0% and 14.0%, respectively), α-terpineol (9.3 % and 2.3 %, respectively), α-fenchyl acetate (12.7 % and 1.1 %, respectively) and (E)-methyl cinnamate (5.3 % and 2.6 %, respectively), as the major constituents. The major constituents of the leaf oils from the same locations were: α-pinene (6.6 % and 6.3 %, respectively), camphene (5.0 % and 5.1%, respectively), β-pinene (21.5 % and 23.5 %, respectively), 1,8-cineole (34.4 % and 30.7%, respectively) and camphor (7.8 % and 12.8 %, respectively).