the present study was carried out to evaluate the chemical composition and antimicrobial properties of the essential oil from fruits of morinda royoc l. essential oil was extracted from fruit by the hydrodistillation method. for this study, gc-fid and gc-ms were used for the characterization of the volatile compounds. one hundred twenty-five volatile constituents were identified in a total yield of 0.18% (v/m). octanoic acid (50.5%), 3-methyl-3-buten-1-yl octanoate (13.9%) and decanoic acid (6.7%) were found the major compounds. antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was observed against seven foodborne pathogenic strains. the essential oil exhibited very good activity against b. subtilis, s. aureus, c. albicans, and c. utilis, good activity against e. coli, but it showed moderate activity against s. enterica serovar and low activity against p. aeruginosa. the mic values of the essential oil varied from 2.10 to 23.05 g/ ml, with the lowest for c. albicans. this study could have valuable industrial applications, particularly in the food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical sectors.