Abstract
Basils of the genus Ocimum are aromatic plants grown widely throughout the tropical and temperate regions. The essential oils obtained from their aerial parts are enriched with volatile organic compounds with high market demand for food and pharmaceutical industries. The volatile organic compounds have been shown to exhibit biological activities. Therefore, their novel applications have been extensively explored in the last few decades. The most widely available basils in the tropical areas include white holy basil (O. sanctum var. Shyama), red holy basil (O. sanctum var. Rama), Thai basil (O. basilicum var. thyrsiflorum), lemon basil (O. citriodorum), and tree basil (O. gratissimum). Over 60 volatiles of different classes have been exclusively described, and some of them could be useful as biomarkers for genotype specification. The major volatile ingredient is the phenylpropanoids, such as methyl eugenol, which has the potential as a natural product for mitigating Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) during tropical fruit production. Moreover, basil essential oils are also used to control diseases of the fruits during post-harvest storage. As a result, the application of basil essential oils as a sustainable defect control strategy for tropical fruit value chains seems intriguing. This review provides comprehensive information on plant taxonomy and volatile compositions of the essential oil fractions from different basil species. Their biological activities and applications are also discussed, mainly during the pre- and post-production of tropical fruits. Additionally, the available techniques to enhance the efficacy of the volatile active compounds are also described.
Highlights
Ocimum is one of the important genera within the wealthiest essential oil-bearing plant family, the Lamiaceae
Basil oil comprises a mixture of 17 volatile compounds with methyl eugenol, trans-caryophyllene, eugenol representing clove-like aroma being dominant [6,66,67]
Chang et al [89] tested the toxicity of the three main components detected in the essential oil of O. basilicum L. viz., trans-anethole, estragole, and linalool
Summary
Ocimum is one of the important genera within the wealthiest essential oil-bearing plant family, the Lamiaceae It is represented by more than 150 species cultivated and distributed throughout the tropical and temperate regions [1]. A study of fresh apple has proven that spraying the sweet basil essential oil on the fruit skin illustrated the preservative effect, thereby extending its shelf life [23] With all these advantages, it is interesting to use basil essential oils as biological controls during the production of tropical fruits. This review aims to serve as a guide to using the volatile components obtained from commercially available Ocimum species in the development of functional products for the sustainable production of tropical fruits It attempts to provide the relevant data, both taxonomical and chemotypes, with particular attention to the biological activities and applications. The typical constraints of these applied uses are discussed, along with the recent approaches to improve efficiency
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