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Ocimum basilicum
| Common name: |
Sweet Basil |
Family: |
Labiatae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
200 |
| Synonyms: |
|
| Known Hazards: |
None known |
| Range: |
Tropical Asia? |
| Habitat: |
Long cultivated, its original habitat is obscure[132]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
3 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 3 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| O. americanum[P]
O. basilicum var. glabratum[G]
O. basilicum var. majus[G]
Ocymum basilium[H]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Ai K'Ang [E], Albahaca [E], Basil [E,H,S], Basilic [E], Basilicon [E], Basilicum [D], Chahchabram [E], Chiu Ts'Eng T'A [E], Feslegen [E], Hsiang Ts'Ai [E], I Tzu Ts'Ao [E], Lo Le [E], Me-Boki [E], Raihan Al Malik [E], Raihana [E], Rainan [E], Selaseh [E], Selaseh Hitam [E], Selaseh Jantan [E], Selasih [E], Sweet Basil [H,P,B], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
basilicum = royal, princely
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Lamiales. Renamed to Lamiaceae -- Mint family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Africa
Algeria China Europe Greece Haiti India India(Gujarat) India(Santal) Iraq Kurdistan Malaya Mexico Panama(Cuna) Philippines Salvador Samoa Spain Sudan Turkey Venezuela
|
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 0.45m by 0.3m . It is hardy to zone 10 and is frost tender. It is in flower from August to September, and the seeds ripen in September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees.
We rate it 3/5 for edibility and
3/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils and requires well-drained soil.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It cannot grow in the shade.
It requires moist soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Cultivated Beds.Edible Uses
Condiment
Drink Leaves Seed Tea.
Leaves and flowers - raw or cooked[4, 21, 27]. Used as a flavouring or
as a spinach[14, 61], they are used especially with tomato dishes, pasta
sauces, beans, peppers and aubergines[238]. The leaves are normally used
fresh but can also be dried for winter use[21]. A very pleasant addition to
salads[K], the leaves have a delightful scent of cloves[4]. Use the leaves
sparingly in cooking because the heat concentrates the flavour[244].
A refreshing tea is made from the leaves[21].
The seed can be eaten on its own or added to bread dough as a
flavouring[183]. When soaked in water it becomes mucilaginous and can be made
into a refreshing beverage called 'sherbet tokhum' in the Mediterranean[183].
An essential oil obtained from the plant is used as a food flavouring in
mustards, sauces, vinegars etc[57, 105, 183]
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Antibacterial
Antispasmodic Aromatherapy Aromatic Carminative Digestive Galactogogue Ophthalmic Stomachic Tonic.
Sweet basil has been used for thousands of years as a culinary and
medicinal herb. It acts principally on the digestive and nervous systems,
easing flatulence, stomach cramps, colic and indigestion[254].
The leaves and flowering tops are antispasmodic, aromatic, carminative,
digestive, galactogogue, stomachic and tonic[7, 14, 21, 178, 218]. They are
taken internally in the treatment of feverish illnesses (especially colds and
influenza), poor digestion, nausea, abdominal cramps, gastro-enteritis,
migraine, insomnia, depression and exhaustion[238]. Externally, they are used
to treat acne, loss of smell, insect stings, snake bites and skin
infections[238]. The leaves can be harvested throughout the growing season
and are used fresh or dried[238].
The mucilaginous seed is given in infusion in the treatment of gonorrhoea,
dysentery and chronic diarrhoea[240]. It is said to remove film and opacity
from the eyes[218].
The root is used in the treatment of bowel complaints in children[240].
Extracts from the plant are bactericidal and are also effective against
internal parasites[218, 238].
The essential oil is used in aromatherapy. Its keyword is 'Clearing'[210]. We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.
Other Uses
Essential
Repellent Strewing.
An essential oil obtained from the whole plant is used as a food
flavouring and in perfumery, dental applications etc[46, 57, 61, 105, 171,
238]. An average yield of 1.5% essential oil is obtained from the flowering
tops[7]. When applied to the skin it makes a good mosquito repellent[7].
The growing or dried plant is an effective insect repellent. It is a good
plant to grow in the home, where it repels flies, or in the greenhouse where
it can keep all manner of insect pests away from nearby plants[14, 20, K]. It
has been used in the past as a strewing herb[201].
Cultivation details
Prefers a rich light well-drained to dry soil[1, 27, 238]. Requires a
sunny sheltered position if grown outdoors[52]. Tolerates a pH in the range 5
to 8[238].
Sweet basil is commonly grown as an aromatic culinary and medicinal herb in
warm temperate and tropical climates. There are a number of different
constituents that make up the essential oil in basil, and the proportions of
these vary considerably between plants growing in different regions of the
world[238]. From this variety many named varieties with differing flavour
characteristics have been developed[46, 238].
Basil is a perennial plant in the tropics, but it is frost tender and needs
to be grown as a half-hardy annual in temperate zones[142]. It is a very good
companion plant to grow in the house or greenhouse, its aromatic foliage
helping to reduce problems caused by insect pests[K]. It requires a good hot
summer in Britain if it is to do well outdoors[K].
Sweet basil is a good companion plant for tomatoes but it grows badly with
rue and sage[14, 18, 20, 201]. When grown near raspberries it can retard
their fruiting[201].
Propagation
Seed - sow mid to late spring in a greenhouse and only just cover the
seed. Germination is usually free and quick, prick out the seedlings into
individual pots when they are large enough to handle. If growing basil
outdoors, plant out after the last expected frosts.
Scent
-
Leaves: Fresh Crushed Dried
- The leaves are strongly aromatic. There are many named forms with different scents.
Cultivars
- ''
- No entries have been made for this species as yet.
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [V] Images
from the Vascular Plant Image Gallery of the Texas A& M Bioinformatics Working Group.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [S] Image
from the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [PHARM] Phytochemical Data
(common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical Database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for Ocymum basilium (a possible synonym).
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
References for ocimum basilicum (a possible synonym).
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.
[14] Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. Complete Guide to Herbs. Rodale Press 1979 ISBN 0-87857-262-7
A good herbal.
[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.
[20] Riotte. L. Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Garden Way, Vermont, USA. 1978 ISBN 0-88266-064-0
Fairly good.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[27] Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8
A reprint of a nineteenth century classic, giving details of vegetable varieties. Not really that informative though.
[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[52] Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980
A good and comprehensive guide to temperate salad plants, with full organic details of cultivation.
[57] Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
[132] Bianchini. F., Corbetta. F. and Pistoia. M. Fruits of the Earth.
Lovely pictures, a very readable book.
[142] Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x
Readable but not very comprehensive.
[171] Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952
Not very comprehensive, but it is quite readable and goes into some a bit of detail about the plants it does cover.
[178] Stuart. Rev. G. A. Chinese Materia Medica. Taipei. Southern Materials Centre
A translation of an ancient Chinese herbal. Fascinating.
[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[201] Allardice.P. A - Z of Companion Planting. Cassell Publishers Ltd. 1993 ISBN 0-304-34324-2
A well produced and very readable book.
[210] Westwood. C. Aromatherapy - A guide for home use. Amberwood Publishing Ltd 1993 ISBN 0-9517723-0-9
An excellent little pocket guide. Very concise.
[218] Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4
Details of over 1,200 medicinal plants of China and brief details of their uses. Often includes an analysis, or at least a list of constituents. Heavy going if you are not into the subject.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
Readers Comments
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