COMPARATIVE PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF OCIMUM

Abstract

Medicinal properties of Ocimum are known for thousand years to various civilizations of the world. This medicinal herb is considered as a sacred plant by the Hindus in the Indian subcontinent. Scientific explorations of traditional belief of medicinal properties of ocimum have got momentum mostly after the middle of the 20th century. In the present article, efforts have been made to comperative pharmacognostical and phytochemical evaluation (leaf) of different species of ocimum.There are three types of tulsi mentioned in ayurvedic texts-Rama or green leaf tulsi (O. gratissimum), Shyama or krishna or purple leaf tulsi (O. sanctum) and Vana or wild leaf tulsi (O.canum). Although, all three types of Tulsi have their uses in ayurveda, the Rama and Krishna are the most widely used. We work with all three types of Tulsi. Morphological studies of Leaves showed the presence of various diagnostic characters. In the microscopical studies of leaves showed the presence of vascular bundle, trichomes, spongy parenchyma cells etc. Ash value and extractive value was determined for quality standard of drugs. Phytochemical investigation shows the presence of alkaloids, flavanoids, phenol, phytosterol and tannins etc.