Anatomical Study of Six Ocimum Species: The Valuable Method Used in Indian Systems of Medicines (ISM)

Abstract

This study aimed to characterize the morphological and anatomical traits of six Ocimum species namely Ocimum tenuiflorum L. Syn. O. Sanctum L. (green var. known as Radha Tulasi), O. tenuiflorum L. (purple var. known as Krishna Tulasi), O. basilicum L.( green var. known as Sugandhi Tulasi), O. basilicum var. pupurascens L.( purple var. known as Durlabha Tulasi), O. canum Sims. (Kanaka Tulasi) and O. gratissimum L. (Rama Tulasi). Chlorophyll estimation of young and matured leaves was also estimated. Cholorophyll a, Chl. b and total chlorophyll was maximum in both young and matured leaves of O. gratissimum L. compared to other species. Carotenoid pigments was maximum of 203.94 mg/ml in young leaves of O. gratissimum L. and 244.92 mg/ml in matured leaves of O. sanctum L. Comparative morphological characters and anatomical variation were studied for identification of the desired species in drug manufacturing industries before making formulations. This study will certainly help to ensure the quality of the crude drug as these are collected by untrained workers and supplied in dry condition to the drug manufacturing industries. Therefore, there is a chance of adulteration because of vested interest or ignorance as many plants are known by common names or in vernacular names. It was found that the six species can be identified and authenticated using these experimental findings before preparation of compound Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani (ASU) drugs in Indian System of Medicines.

Comparative Morpho-micrometric Investigations in Six Indigenous Ocimum Species of India with DOE Based HPTLC Method for Multi-class Component Analysis

“…The remaining species have puberulous laminas except for O. basilicum, which showed the distribution of hairs restricted to the epidermal parts covering the veins. This observation is partly contrary to some previous works claiming the lamina to be completely glabrous 28 , 30 , 31 . Both O. basilicum and O. filamentosum have cuneate leaf bases but can be differentiated upon the latter having stamens with tenuous filaments, the lower ones twice as long as the corolla.…”

“…3 b, f, j, n, r, v ) is crescent-shaped, embedded in the broadcelled parenchymatous ground tissue with xylem facing towards the adaxial surface and phloem towards the abaxial surface. The types and structures of vascular bundles in different species of Ocimum were previously discussed by some scientists 28 , 29 , 30 , 35 . The secondary vascular bundles are embedded in the dorsiventral mesophyll of the lamina, which shows a single layer of palisade tissue in all species towards the adaxial surface and 3 – 7 layers of spongy mesophyll with large intercellular spaces towards the abaxial surface.…”

“…However, such techniques require that plant tissue be present and are non-significant when performed on secondary metabolites containing plant extracts. Moreover, simpler and cost-effective methods can be successfully employed for quality control of such controversial plant species [27], and some authors have, in the past, worked on the pharmacognostic analysis of Ocimum species as well [28][29][30][31]. Although the degree to which the genus is covered is quite fragmented, an inclusive account of the pharmacognostic characteristics of these species is much in need.…”

A critical study on genus Ocimum of Dibrugarh District of Assam

“…A thin section of stem was selected separated and placed in a clean glass slide and was stained with safranin-O for each species separately. A drop of glycerine was applied, and then the cover slip was placed on top which was now observed under microscope under various magnifications (Parida et al, 2020;Rawat et al, 2016).…”

“…According to reports the genus Ocimum contains around 160 species and is the largest of the genera, with 65 species unique to Ocimum and others being synonyms. About nine Ocimum species have been reported in India, including three foreign species: O. minimum, O. x africanum, O. americanum (Parida et al, 2020).…”