Lemon Basil

Overview

Ocimum basilicum L. is a commonly and widely cultivated European and Asian plant with intense distinctive herbal spicy and sweet aroma. An essential oil obtained from the whole plant is used as a food flavouring and in perfumery, dental applications etc. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy.

Vernacular Names

Basilienkraut (German), Bassilico (Italian), Basilicum (Netherlands), Balanoy (Philippines), Basilika (Basilika), Horapha (Thailaind), Húng (Vietnam), Kemangi, Selasih (Indonesia).

Agroecology

A plant of the tropics, it can also be grown in the subtropics and as an annual in the warm temperate zone. In the tropics, it succeeds up to an elevation of 1,000 m. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 18 - 27 °C. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 1,600mm. Prefers a sunny, sheltered position. Prefers a rich light welldrained to dry soil. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 4.3 - 8.2 .

Morphology

• Stems - an erect, much-branched, smooth, somewhat hairy, and very aromatic undershrub, growing 0.5 to 1.5 meters high.
• Leaves - simple, opposite, ovate to oblong- ovate, entire or slightly toothed, with acute tips and glandular spots on the lower surface.
• Flowers - White flowers borne in racemes. Corolla bilabiate, exerted, and upper lip broader, subequally 4- fid, the lower lip entire. Petals pink or purplish, stamens exserted.
• Fruits - nutlets, smooth or somewhat rugose.

Cultivation

• Seed - sow in containers or in seed beds and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually free and quick. Prick out container-grown seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle.
• Plant out seedlings into permanent positions when 5 - 8cm tall.

Chemical Constituents

Cineol, linalool, methyl cinnamate, myrcene, quercetin, rutin, tryptophan, safrole, estragol, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, euganol, saponin glicosydes, geranyl acetate.

Traditional Medicinal Uses

• 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.
• The leaves and flowering tops are antispasmodic, aromatic, carminative, digestive, galactagogue, stomachic and tonic.
• Leaves and flowers considered excitant, diuretic, and stimulant for weak digestion.
• Considered diaphoretic, expectorant, febrifuge, demulcent, mucilaginous, cooling.
• The seed is given in infusion in the treatment of gonorrhoea, dysentery and chronic diarrhoea.
• Decoction of leaves also used for hiccups, vomiting and nausea.
• Decoction of seeds used to decrease postpartum pains; the seeds are mucilaginous.
• Seeds, washed and pounded, used in poultices for sores and sinuses; also used internally for habitual constipation and internal hemorrhoids.
• In Kanawar, sometimes eaten mixed in ordinary bread. In Bengal, infused in water, used as a refreshing and cooling drink.
• In Bengal, infused in water, used as a refreshing and cooling drink. 
• In Turkey, Ocimum basilicum is used as a folk medicine and traditional Uyghur medicine to prevent and treat diabetics and cardiovascular disorders
• In Indian Siddha medicine, it is used for treating pimples on face
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