Objective To compare the volatile constituents and anti-tumor activity from the peel and shell parts of Podocarpus nageia fruits. Methods Steam distillation was used for extracting volatile oil from the peel and nutshell of Podocarpus nageia, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was exploited to compare the chemical compositions. Their anti-tumor activities were studied by the MTT assay. Results The yield of volatile oil from nageia peel was 0. 23%. 21 kinds of composition were isolated and 18 kinds were identified, the main composition was caryophyllene, accounting for 72. 44% contents of the total volatile oil. The volatile oil from nageia nutshell was 0. 15%. 15 kinds of composition were isolated and 13 species were identified from the nutshell. 4 compositions were found in both two parts. The volatile oil from both of nageia peel and nutshell inhibitted nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells proliferation in vitro, and the IC50 were 54. 58 and 114. 83 μg·mL-1 , which indicated that the volatile oil from the peel showed stronger inhibitory activity. Conclusion The main components in the volatile oil from nageia fruit are alkenes, alcohols and terpenes. The volatile oil extracted from peel shows comparable stronger anti-tumor activity.