Ocimum gratissimum: A review on ethnomedicinal properties, phytochemical constituents, and pharmacological profile

Abstract

In the present chapter, an effort was made to compile the ethnomedicinal, phytochemical, and pharmacological properties of Ocimum gratissimum commonly known as Camphor basil or Ram Tulsi. It is a herbaceous plant that belongs to family Lamiaceae. The plant is about 1-2 feet long, and its leaves have cloves-like flavor that leads to its use in vegetables seasoning. This plant has immense therapeutic uses. O. gratissimum have chemopreventive, ant carcinogenic, free radical searching, radio defensive, and various other pharmacological uses. Plants like O. gratissimum deliver different bioactive constituents that are utilized generally as sustenance added substances, nourishment colorants, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and aromas. Biotechnology acquired plant cell culture innovations and has been considered for long, an alluring option for the extraction and utilization of their important secondary metabolites. In vitro culture methods provide an attractive alternative for the protection of uncommon, debilitated, or imperiled therapeutic plants as well as effective means of their rapid clonal micropropagation of critical plants and also permit the creation of hereditarily steady and consistent source. The present chapter underlines the conventional utilizations and clinical possibilities of O. gratissimum.