Abstract
There are distinct varieties of basil types in the genus Ocimum which makes them very special. Genus Ocimum is widespread over Asia, Africa and Central & Southern America. All basils are member of the Lamiaceae family. The colors of the leaves vary from bright green to purple-green and sometimes almost black. Fresh basil leaves have a strong and characteristic aroma, not comparable to any other spice, although there is a hint of clove traceable. Ocimum Sanctum, also addressed as Ocimum Tenuiflorum is a sacred plant in the Hindu culture and known as Tulasi in Tamil or Holy Basil in English. Meanwhile Ocimum Basilicum, known as Common or Sweet Basil has very dark green leaves. The genus Ocimum is cultivated for its remarkable essential oil which exhibits many usages such as in medicinal application, herbs, culinary, perfume for herbal toiletries, aromatherapy treatment and as flavoring agent. Due to varying essential oil profiles even within the same species, plants may often be classified as a different species as a result of different scents. In the present study, volatile constituents of Ocimum Sanctum and Ocimum Basilicum were extracted using various solvents and their chemical constituents were identified and quantified by using GC-MS in optimized conditions. The profiles of extract from both species were compared in an effort to investigate effects of seasonal variation on their chemical compositions. The predominant species in Ocimum Sanctum and Ocimum Basilicum was found to be methyl eugenol and methyl chavicol, respectively, during different months of analysis.
Highlights
The genus Ocimum is ranked high among some of the astonishing herbs for having enormous medicinal potentialities
Gas Chromatograph equipped with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis: The essential oils of Ocimum Sanctum and Ocimum Basilicum were subjected to detailed GC-MS analysis in order to determine the impact of the locality and seasonal variations on their volatile constituents
Compounds were identified in Ocimum Basilicum (Table 1) compounds were identified in Ocimum Sanctum leaves (Table 2)
Summary
The genus Ocimum is ranked high among some of the astonishing herbs for having enormous medicinal potentialities. Previous studies show that there are large numbers of species and varieties falls in this genus[1,2,3,4,5]. Several authors recognize more than 60-150 species in the genus. Characterizations of each species in this genus (family Lamiaceae) are based on the leaves and habitat[1]. The colours of the leaves vary from bright green to dark green and sometime almost black. Though the colours in the plants vary, but the reason behind it, especially in basils, are not being studied yet. Regular occurrence of the interspecific hybridization within the genus, have created taxonomic challenges, leaving very little publications on basil taxonomy which follows the International Code of Botanical nomenclature[1,2]. Due to the difficulties in identifying the species, Massimo et al (2004) has concluded that identification can be optimized by combined analysis of morphological traits, essential oil composition and molecular markers[2]
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