Fresh Basil Research Articles

Iodine biofortification of sweet basil and lettuce grown in two hydroponic systems

Two hydroponic techniques (floating system and aeroponics) were assessed for iodine (I) biofortification of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and baby-leaf lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Iodine was supplemented by adding KI into the nutrient solution to achieve a final I concentration of 10 μM. Shoot biomass production and leaf concentration of I, nitrates, total phenols and pigments were measured on the occasion of two successive cuts, 14 and 28 days after transplanting. In both the hydroponic systems, the supplementation of KI represented an effective method for the biofortification of basil as it did not affect the plant growth, while it moderately reduced the biomass production in lettuce. Leaf I accumulation occurred to a greater extent in aeroponics than the floating system in both species. In KI-treated basil plants, leaf I content ranged between 9.76 and 23.58 mg kg−1 FW. Consequently, 6 g of fresh basil leaves, which is contained in a portion of Italian pesto sauce (12 g), could satisfy 40%–94% of the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) of iodine for healthy adults (150 μg day−1). In lettuce, leaf I contents of first-cut leaves were 1.55 and 3.60 mg kg−1 FW, in the floating system and aeroponics, respectively. Therefore, a serving size of 26 g of lettuce containing I from 1.55 (floating culture) to 3.60 (aeroponics) mg kg−1 FW could satisfy 27 % to 62 % of the RDI of iodine.Lettuce grew much less in the floating system than aeroponics, probably because of the lower dissolved oxygen level in the nutrient solution as compared to aeroponics. Basil was less sensitive to the oxygen availability in the root zone, since no differences were detected between the two hydroponic systems in terms of fresh and dry biomass.

MICROWAVE ASSISTED-EXTRACTION OF ESSENTIAL OIL FROM FRESH BASIL (OCIMUM BASILICUM L.) LEAVES

In this research, the extraction of essential oil from fresh basil leaves using solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME)and microwave hydrodistillation (MHD) method. Several parameters influence the extraction of basil oil using SFME method: microwave power, the ratio between the mass of raw material with a volume of distiller (F/D), material size, and length of extraction time. Besides, the components contained in basil oil and changes in oil gland conditions in basil leaves before and after being extracted were also evaluated. The optimum condition was obtained as follows: microwave power of 380 W, the ratio between the mass of raw material with a volume of distiller (F/D) of 0.1 g/mL, raw material size of intact (± 3 cm), with an extraction time of 60 min. Moreover, SFME has a shorter extraction time to produce yields than MHD methods. GC-MS analyzed the composition of basil oil, and there were 49 identified components. This study shows that SFME method more effective than the MHD method for extraction basil oil from fresh leaves based on time extraction and yield.

Effect of Drying Systems on the Parameters and Quality of Dried Basil

The main aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of drying the basil plants under different conditions. Fresh basil was dried using different systems: sun-drying, shadow-drying, room-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying systems. Weight losses, moisture content and oil content were recorded. Drying parameters were studied to determine the equilibrium moisture contents (EMC) using different models. The obtained results indicated that the accumulated weight loss of basil plants increased from 3.57 to 83.76, 2.12 to 70.48, 0.72 to 82.07, 0.44 to 84.34 and 1.29 to 84.90 %, for sun-drying system, shadow-drying system, room-drying system, solar-drying system and oven-drying system, respectively. The moisture content of basil plants decreased from 515.95 to 6.91, 490.18 to 6.59, 479.97 to 4.66, 538.02 to 0.93 and 565.40 to 5.40 % d.b. for sun-drying system, shadow-drying system, room-drying system, solar-drying system and oven-drying system, respectively. The highest value of equilibrium moisture contents were 13.25 and 35.16 % at 10 and 90 % equilibrium relative humidity was found from Modified Chung-Pfost equation under room system. The lowest value of equilibrium moisture contents were 0.91 and 16.58 % at 10 and 90 % equilibrium relative humidity was found for modified Oswin equation for oven system. The basil oil content values were 2.3, 2.5, 2.9, 2.7 and 2.0 % for the sun-drying, shadow-drying, room-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying, respectively.

Effect of Distillation Methods on Essential Oil Yield and Composition of Basil Dried by Different Drying Systems

The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different distillation methods (water and steam) on essential oil yield and composition of sweet basil as affected by drying methods (sun-drying, shadow-drying, room temperature-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying). The obtained results indicated that the basil essential oil content values were 2.3 and 2.4, 2.5 and 3.4, 2.9 and 4.0, 2.7 and 2.7 and 2.0 and 2.3 % for water and steam distillation, respectively for the sun-drying, shadow-drying, room temperature-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying, respectively, compared to 2.60 % for fresh basil. Distillation time was ranged 165 to 180 min for all treatments. The α-pinene and β-pinene by using steam distillation higher than those α-pinene and β-pinene by using water distillation. The highest values of the linalool for water and steam distillation were 45.556 and 46.616 % was obtained when the basil dried at room temperature system. The camphor and methyl chavicol values ranged from 3.037 to 10.910 and 4.550 to 11.539 %, respectively, for all treatment. The geraniol values were 8.676 and 7.743, 4.058 and 3.372, 3.962 and 3.210, 7.884 and 5.361 and 5.138 and 3.728 % for water and steam distillation, respectively for the sun-drying, shadow-drying, room temperature-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying, respectively. The eugenol and β-caryophelliene values ranged from 17.408 to 25.739 and 0.487 to 2.525 %, respectively, for all treatment. The total costs of basil essential oil production ranged from 0.87 to 1.75 LE g-1 of essential oil

Bioassay-guided identification of α-amylase inhibitors in herbal extracts

This study focuses on the health benefits of several fresh herbs that are commonly used in the Mediterranean diet. Antioxidant activity, phytosterol content and α-amylase inhibitory activity of fresh basil, lavender, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme are analyzed and compared. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) combined with effect directed analysis was used to detect and quantify biological active compounds on chromatograms. The highest antioxidant activity was measured in the extract from oregano leaf, while the highest terpenoid content was in basil leaf extract. All extracts except lavender leaf and lavender flower extracts showed α-amylase inhibition. The same compound at hRF = 68 in basil, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme extracts was responsible for α-amylase inhibition. Combined with effect-directed assays and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, hyphenated HPTLC allowed a fast characterization of the active compound. ATR spectral analysis of this band tentatively identified oleanolic acid (or its derivative) to be responsible for the α-amylase inhibition.

Antioxidant, total phenolic, ascorbic acid and color changes of Ocimum bacilicum L. by sun and microwave drying

Basil is a plant consumed fresh and dried in Mediterranean cuisine. The effect of drying on antioxidant activity, total phenolic content, ascorbic acid content and color of Ocimum bacilicum L. from Turkey was investigated. The samples were dried by two methods: sun drying (RH 43-55% for 2 days) and microwave drying (400 watts for 8 min). Total phenolics contents were ranged from 34.1 to 62.2 mg GAE/g DM). The antioxidant activity based on the DPPH IC50 assay of the basil extracts varied from 104 to 149.7. The initial content of ascorbic acid in basil was 134.3 mg/ 100g. The ascorbic acid content of sun and microwave dried samples were 32.5, 25.5 mg/ 100g, respectively. The values for the L*, a* and b* coordinates of the fresh basil were 55.14, -17.13 and 27.76, sun and microwave dried basil samples were 45.63, -1.73, 16.79, and 39.17, -12.19, 21.62, respectively. As a result of this study, it was determined that dried basil samples contain more total phenolic component and have more antioxidant activity than fresh basil samples. It is also possible to deduce from the results that heat-drying causes high levels of ascorbic acid degradation and causes significant changes in color materials.

Improvement of bioavability of medicinal herbs by fermentation with Lactobacillus plantarum

Background: Medicinal and aromatic plants, which are rich sources of bioactive conpounds, have been used in traditional medicine for ancient times. Epidemiological studies have shown that bioactive compounds of medicinal plants possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiatherosclerotic, antitumor, antimutagenic, anticarcinogenic, antibacterial and antiviral activities. Intake of natural antioxidants derived from medicinal plants into body has been associated with reduced risks of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other diseases. It has also been demonstrated that the fermentation of plants is a versatile way for improvement of their functionality and bioavailability. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of probiotic fermentation and vacuum drying on the bioavailability of peppermint (Mentha piperita) and basil (Ocimum basilicum) exposed to in vitro digestion.Methods: Fresh basil and peppermint were divided to 3 lots, one lot of each plant was vacuum dried at 40 °C for 8 hours to obtain the dried samples while one lot was fermented with probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum for 21 days at room temperature after incorporation with sterile brine (1:20 w:v) containing 5 % of NaCl. Thereby, 3 samples were obtained: Fresh peppermint/basil, vacuum dried peppermint/basil and fermented peppermint/basil. During the in vitro digestion comprised from gastric and pancreatic digestion, bioavailability of the samples were investigated by measurement of their total phenolic contents (TPCs), total flavonoid contents (TFCs) and antiradical activity. TPC was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method while TFC was measured aluminum chloride colorimetric assay. The antiradical activity of the samples was analyzed by determination of the DPPH radical scavenging activity.Results: The initial (undigested) TPC levels of fresh, vacuum dried and fermented mint and basils ranged from 166.24 to 295.08 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g. Drying and fermentation increased TPCs of the plants. Similarly, TFCs and antiradical activities were also increased by these treatments. When considering bioavailability of the bioactive compounds, fermentation process enabled higher recovery levels after in vitro digestion while basil exhibited higher percent recovery than mint.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that vacuum drying and fermentation of basil and mint with probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum provided much stronger antioxidant activity and bioavailability than fresh ones and increased their in vitro bioavailability.

Organic mulches reduce crop attack by sweetpotato weevil (Cylas formicarius)

Mulching with organic materials is a management practice with long history for weed suppression, soil water conservation and erosion control. Its potential impact on crop pests is less well explored. Here we report its utility for reducing crop damage by the serious pest, sweetpotato weevil (Cylas formicarius). Laboratory bioassays measured the response of adult female weevils to sweetpotato storage roots beneath mulches of fresh or dried plant materials. Weevils were significant repelled by fresh basil, catnip, basil lime and dry eucalyptus, cypress, lucerne and sugarcane. A subsequent field study found that mulches of dry cypress, eucalyptus and lucerne reduced movement of weevils from a release point to reach sweetpotato plants and lowered level of damage to storage roots. Results demonstrate that mulching with organic materials merits further testing as part of the integrated management of sweetpotato weevil, particularly to protect developing storage roots during dry periods when soil cracking can facilitate access by pests.

Effects of organic acid alone and in combination with H2O2 and NaCl on Escherichia coli O157:H7: An evaluation of antioxidant retention and overall acceptability in Basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum)

In this study, the efficacy of household sanitizers application on reduction of Escherichia coli O157:H7, ascorbic acid, total phenolics, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging and overall acceptability of inoculated fresh basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum), at temperature of 40 °C was investigated. Sanitizers containing lactic acid (LA), acetic acid (AA) and citric acid (CA) were used at concentration of 2%, individually or in combination with H2O2 (1% or 2%), and NaCl (7%). Control a and b were unwashed and washed leaves with distilled, deionized and sterilized water, respectively. All sanitizing treatments, in comparison to the control a, reduced the numbers of E. coli O157:H7 (0.24 ± 0.12–3.37 ± 0.48 log CFU/g) at day 1 (1 h after sanitizing). The lowest number of E. coli O157:H7 population (2.35 ± 0.26 log CFU/g) was observed by applying the LA + H2O2 (%2) treatment at first day of chilled storage. The highest amount of ascorbic acid (27.77 ± 0.06 mg/100 g), total phenolic (112.2 ± 0.5 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g) and DPPH radical scavenging activity (95.2 ± 0.5%) was observed in control a at first day (P < 0.05). The results showed that the amount of ascorbic acid, total phenolics, DPPH radical scavenging activity and overall acceptability of basil leaves decreased during chilled storage. On day 2 of storage, the scores of sensory attributes for the control group were less than the minimum score of acceptance (i.e. 5 points). The results of this study indicated that LA + H2O2 (2%) treatment rendered the samples favorable in terms of overall appearance (≥5) up to 48 h.

Influence of packaging and storage conditions on biochemical quality and enzymatic activity in relation to shelf life enhancement of fresh basil leaf.

Biochemical changes in response to storage conditions and packaging were investigated in basil leaves of variety Genovese in order to find out suitable conditions for their storage. Fresh basil leaves placed in open trays or packed in lowdensity polyethylene (LDPE) bags were stored at 5, 12°C and under ambient conditions (12.2-21.0°C) for 12days. Chlorophyll content, total phenols, total flavonoids and antioxidant activity of basil leaves decreased with simultaneous increase in electrolyte leakage and TBA reactive compounds during whole storage period. Packaging of leaves and storage at 5°C slowed down the changes in these quality parameters in comparison to those kept in open trays and stored at 12°C and ambient temperature respectively. Activities of enzymes catechol oxidase and lipoxygenase which increased during storage were slowed down by packaging and decrease in storage temperature. Irrespective of storage conditions and packaging, activities of antioxidative enzymes viz. catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase increased during storage. Rapid increase in activities of antioxidative enzymes was observed LDPE packed leaves than those held in open trays and in leaves stored at 5°C as compared to 12°C and ambient temperature. Basil leaves packed in LDPE and stored at 5°C showed the slowest changes in biochemical parameters and the highest activities of antioxidative enzymes and could be stored for 12days in comparison to 6days in open trays at ambient temperature.

Sensitivitas ekstrak tanaman kemangi (Ocimum sactum) terhadap bakteri Aeromonas hydrophila

The research was conducted to appraise the antimicrobial activity of Ocimum sactum extract on A. hydrophila. Fresh basil was purchased from the local market, put in plastic bags and brought to Laboratory of Fish Health, Environment, and Toxicology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science Sam Ratulangi University. The basil was cleaned and separated between trunk and leaf, and then macerated in alcohol 70% at room temperature for 24 hours. The extract was filtered using Whatman paper and evaporated using rotary evaporator. Paper disc (diameter: 6 mm) was immersed in the extract, placed on TSA previously inoculated with A. hydrophila, and incubated at 28oC for 24 hours. The result showed that trunk and leaf extracted with alcohol 70% did not inhibit the grow of bacteria while aquades extract was able to inhibit growth of bacteria indicated by the present of clear zone around the paper discs with a diameter of 16.5 mm for leaf and 20.5 mm for basil trunk. The ability of these two extracts to inhibit the growth of bacteria was categorized as strong. Thus, aquades extract of basil was able to inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Keywords: Ocimum sactum, antimicrobial, disc diffusion method, medicinal plant, inhibition zone

Effects of biochar mixtures with pine-bark based substrates on growth and development of horticultural crops

This study investigates the potential of using biochar as a substrate component to replace pine bark (PB) to produce horticultural crops in containers. Biochar was incorporated in PB at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% (by volume) to grow chrysanthemum, tomato, lettuce and basil plants in containers. The responses of plant growth to the percentage of biochar combined in PB mixtures varied among the different crops. Chrysanthemum plants grown in PB mixtures with 80% and 100% biochar had significant higher shoot fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) than plants grown in PB alone, while the same treatments resulted in reduced shoot FW, DW, growth index measured at 19 and 33 days after transplanting and root rating of tomato plants. Growing lettuce plants in 100% biochar reduced the FW of the second crop compared to plants grown in PB substrates supplemented with 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80% biochar. For basil, although biochar alone caused lower root rating, it did not adversely influence the fresh basil yield. Generally, no negative effect on plant growth was observed in PB mixes with biochar as high as 60%, which is probably the outcome of similar physical properties of the biochar to the commonly used PB.

Mathematical modelling of drying characteristics of medical plants in a vacuum heat pump dryer

ABSTRACTIn this study, drying behaviour of medical plants such as fresh sweet basil, parsley and dill leaves in a vacuum heat pump dryer was investigated. Drying experiments were conducted at the vacuum pressure of 0.6 bar and the drying temperatures of 36°C and 46°C. Five thin layer drying models namely the Henderson and Pabis model, Logarithmic model, Two-term model, Modified page equation model and Lewis model to estimate moisture ratio of medical plants were used. Different mathematical drying models were compared according to their root mean square error, the coefficient of determination (R2) and reduced chi-square (χ2). For sweet basil, parsley and dill leaves, the logarithmic model, the Two-term model and the Henderson and Pabis model showed better fit to the experimental data compared to other models, respectively.

Influence of 1-MCP and modified atmosphere packaging in the quality and preservation of fresh basil

A study was conducted to assess the individual and combined effect of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and modified atmospheres packaging (MAP) in preserving basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) leaves. Fresh samples were stored at 11°C and 85% RH, by packing them in sealed LDPE bags and in open macro-perforated LDPE bags with and without previous exposition to 1-MCP. Preliminary evaluations were performed to define a suitable 1-MCP dose in solution and exposure time being these, 0.3cm3m−3 and 24h, respectively, and to preconfigure the MAP system with satisfactory gas levels, obtaining steady concentrations inside the packaging of ca. 10.5% of O2 and 4.2% of CO2. The combined treatment of MAP and 1-MCP increased the storage life of the basil leaves up to 18days, compared to 9days in the control samples (stored at 11°C in open bags without 1-MCP exposure), delaying changes in the evaluated quality properties.

Microbial community profiling of fresh basil and pitfalls in taxonomic assignment of enterobacterial pathogenic species based upon 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing

Application of 16S rRNA (gene) amplicon sequencing on food samples is increasingly applied for assessing microbial diversity but may as unintended advantage also enable simultaneous detection of any human pathogens without a priori definition. In the present study high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the V1–V2–V3 regions of the 16S rRNA gene was applied to identify the bacteria present on fresh basil leaves. However, results were strongly impacted by variations in the bioinformatics analysis pipelines (MEGAN, SILVAngs, QIIME and MG-RAST), including the database choice (Greengenes, RDP and M5RNA) and the annotation algorithm (best hit, representative hit and lowest common ancestor). The use of pipelines with default parameters will lead to discrepancies. The estimate of microbial diversity of fresh basil using 16S rRNA (gene) amplicon sequencing is thus indicative but subject to biases.Salmonella enterica was detected at low frequencies, between 0.1% and 0.4% of bacterial sequences, corresponding with 37 to 166 reads. However, this result was dependent upon the pipeline used: Salmonella was detected by MEGAN, SILVAngs and MG-RAST, but not by QIIME. Confirmation of Salmonella sequences by real-time PCR was unsuccessful. It was shown that taxonomic resolution obtained from the short (500bp) sequence reads of the 16S rRNA gene containing the hypervariable regions V1–V3 cannot allow distinction of Salmonella with closely related enterobacterial species.In conclusion 16S amplicon sequencing, getting the status of standard method in microbial ecology studies of foods, needs expertise on both bioinformatics and microbiology for analysis of results. It is a powerful tool to estimate bacterial diversity but amenable to biases. Limitations concerning taxonomic resolution for some bacterial species or its inability to detect sub-dominant (pathogenic) species should be acknowledged in order to avoid overinterpretation of results.

Oil distillation wastewaters from aromatic herbs as new natural source of antioxidant compounds

Distillation wastewaters (DWWs) are generated during the essential oil steam distillation from aromatic herbs. Despite of growing interest on novel source of natural antioxidant compounds as food additives, studies on DWWs are scarse. Herein, the potential of DWWs produced by the distillation of packaged fresh basil, rosemary and sage wastes was evaluated by chemical and antioxidant characterization.HPLC-DAD-HRMS profiling revealed that DWWs contain water-soluble phenolic compounds, mainly caffeic acid derivatives and flavonoid glycosides, with rosmarinic acid (RA) as predominant components (29–135mg/100mL). DWWs demonstrated high levels of total phenolic compounds (TPC, 152–443mg GAE/100mL) and strong antioxidant capacities, in ORAC, DPPH and ABTS assays (1101–4720, 635–4244 and 571–3145μmol TE/100mL, respectively). Highly significant correlations of TEAC values with TPC and RA contents revealed that phenolic compounds and high RA content were responsible of DWWs antioxidant properties.Thus, DWWs are proposed as a new promising source of natural food additives and/or functional ingredients for cosmetic, nutraceutical and food applications.

Gene expression programming approach for the estimation of moisture ratio in herbal plants drying with vacuum heat pump dryer

The determination of drying behavior of herbal plants is a complex process. In this study, gene expression programming (GEP) model was used to determine drying behavior of herbal plants as fresh sweet basil, parsley and dill leaves. Time and drying temperatures are input parameters for the estimation of moisture ratio of herbal plants. The results of the GEP model are compared with experimental drying data. The statistical values as mean absolute percentage error, root-mean-squared error and R-square are used to calculate the difference between values predicted by the GEP model and the values actually observed from the experimental study. It was found that the results of the GEP model and experimental study are in moderately well agreement. The results have shown that the GEP model can be considered as an efficient modelling technique for the prediction of moisture ratio of herbal plants.

Comparison of the Chemical Composition of Essential Oils and Hydrolates from Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.)

The chemical compositions of essential oils and hydrolates from fresh and dried aerial parts of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) were compared. Both the essential oil and hydrolate from fresh basil were assigned to the methyleugenol-eugenol chemotype (44.9-51.26 % and 12.5-26 %, respectively), while the essential oil and hydrolate from dried material to the methyleugenol chemotype (33.4-45.8 %). In essential oils from fresh (F) and dried (D) material, about 97 % of the chemical compounds were identified, the main ones being methyleugenol (F 44.9 %, D 45.8 %), linalool (F 10.3 %, D 9.7 %), and eugenol (F 12.5 %, D 8.5 %). The main class of compounds in essential oils F and D comprises oxygen derivatives of monoterpene hydrocarbons (76.9 % and 75.3 %, respectively). In hydrolates from fresh (HF) and dried (HD) aerial parts of basil, 98.7 %, and 93.7 % of the chemical compounds were identified, respectively. Also here, the main compounds were methyleugenol (HF 51.0 %, HD 33.4 %), eugenol (HF 26.0 %, HD 5.8% ) and linalool (HF 11.3 %, HD 10.2 %).

Microbiological Status and Food Safety Compliance of Commercial Basil Production Systems

Basil has been implicated in a number of microbe-associated foodborne illnesses across the world, and the source of contamination has often been traced back to the production and/or processing stages of the supply chain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbiological quality of fresh basil from the point of production to the retail outlet in the Gauteng and Northwest Provinces of South Africa. A total of 463 samples were collected over a 3-month period from two large-scale commercial herb producing and processing companies and three retail outlets. The microbiological quality of the samples was assessed based on the presence or absence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium and the levels of the indicator bacteria E. coli and total coliforms. Salmonella Typhimurium was detected on four basil samples (0.9%) arriving at the processing facility and at dispatch, but no E. coli O157:H7 was detected throughout the study. Total coliform counts were 0.4 to 4.1 CFU/g for basil, 1.9 to 3.4 log CFU/ml for water, and 0.2 to 1.7 log CFU/cm(2) for contact surfaces, whereas E. coli was detected in the water samples and only once on basil. The Colilert-18 and membrane filter methods were used to analyze water samples, and a comparison of results revealed that the Colilert-18 method was more sensitive. Strong evidence suggests that high numbers of coliforms do not necessarily indicate the presence of Salmonella Typhimurium. The study results highlight the importance of effective implementation of food safety management systems in the fresh produce industry.

The effect of different solvents and number of extraction steps on the polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity of basil leaves (Ocimum basilicum L.) extracts.

The objectives of this study were to determine best conditions for the extraction of phenolic compounds from fresh, frozen and lyophilized basil leaves. The acetone mixtures with the highest addition of acetic acid extracted most of the phenolic compounds when fresh and freeze-dried material have been used. The three times procedure was more effective than once shaking procedure in most of the extracts obtained from fresh basil leaves – unlike the extracts derived from frozen material. Surprisingly, there were not any significant differences in the content of phenolics between the two used procedures in the case of lyophilized basil leaves used for extraction. Additionally, the positive correlation between the phenolic compounds content and antioxidant activity of the studied extracts has been noted. It is concluded that the acetone mixtures were more effective than the methanol ones for polyphenol extraction. The number of extraction steps in most of the cases was also a statistically significant factor affecting the yield of phenolic extraction as well as antioxidant potential of basil leaf extracts.