Curcuma longa is an important plant with diverse medicinal properties. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical constituents and phenolic contents, ascorbic acid content, antioxidant, anti-arthritic and antibacterial potential of the rhizome extract of C. longa grown in South-West, Nigeria. GC-MS, UV-Visible Spectrophotometer, other established biochemical methods were used to investigate the rhizome extract. The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of sixty ( 60) therapeutically active phytochemicals. The most abundant components were: nopol (23.0%), megastigma-3,7(E),9-triene (9.0%), curlone (7.0%) and ( 4E)-2-methyl-4-octenal (5.9%). The percentage of α-curcume, α-zingiberene and βsesquiphellandrene were 0.9, 1.6 and 1.9%, respectively. The polyphenol, flavonoid and ascorbic acid values were 3,270.30 ±0.00 µgmg -1 GAE, 51.79±0.00 µgmg -1 QE and 51.48±0.03 µgmg -1 AAE, respectively. The rhizome extract of C. longa contained some phenolic compounds such as o-guaiacol (1.5%), p-vinylguaiacol (2.0%) and ferulic acid methyl ester (1.5%). The rhizome extract showed very low IC50 and therefore high AAI with Galvinoxyl (25.0 µgml -1 and 1.68) and DPPH (5.0 µgml -1 and 8.0). The total antioxidant capacity value was 1,173.08±0.00 µgmg -1 AAE. The rhizome extract also gave high anti-arthritic protein denaturation value between 86.82-69.32%. The extract was active against all the tested bacteria isolates showing high zones of inhibition (10.0-24.0 mm). The studies provide important information for efficient and effective uses of rhizome of C. longa for nutritional and therapeutic purposes.