Sweet Basil - Ocimum basilicum L.

Abstract: Sweet Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.; Lamiaceae) is used as a spice (for example to prepare Pesto alla genovese or Soupe au Pistou) and as medicinal plant (carminativum, stomachicum, adstringens). Responsible for these effects are essential oils (with the main compounds linalool, estragol, eugenol and ocimene) and tannins. The exact origin of this plant is unknown. Today it is cultivated in all tropical and subtropical areas. In Europe Sweet Basil is used since some thousand years. Its cultural history is described shortly. For example this plant can be found in literature of the middle-ages (Giovanni Boccaccio: II Decameron) and in a modem poem by Michael Gabor.

Keyword(s): Sweet basil

Zurück | Weiter