The aims of this study were to analyze the chemical composition of leaf essential oil of Metasequioa glyptostroboides Miki, and to test the efficacy of oil and extracts (hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol) against food spoilage and food-borne pathogenic bacteria and their antioxidant activity. The GC-MS analysis revealed 49 compounds representing 94.62% of the total oil containing 2-butaneone (30.6%), cyclopentane (15.1%), beta-myrcene (13.29%), cyclobutane (7.67%), furan (3%), valeramide (2.81%), borneol (1.2%), beta-farnesene (1.67%), thymol (1.44%) and alpha-pinene (1.46%) as major components. The oil (1000 microg/disc), and extracts (1500 microg/disc) exhibited promising antibacterial effect as a diameter of zones of inhibition (10-18 and 7-13 mm), respectively. MIC values of oil and the extracts were ranged 125-2000 and 250 to <2000 microg/ml, respectively. Also the oil had strong antibacterial effect on the viable counts. Scanning electron microscopic study demonstrated potential detrimental effect of the oil on the morphology of S. aureus KCTC1916. The free radical scavenging activities of the oil and ethyl acetate extract were found to be 11.32 and 19.12 microg/ml, respectively. Also the ethyl acetate extract revealed the highest phenolic contents (85.17 mg/g of dry wt) as compared to the other extracts.