Chemical composition of the essential oil of basil (Ocimum basilicum L. Lamiaceae)

Abstract

In Serbia basil has been grown traditionally as a decorative, medicinal, seasoning and ritual herb, and there is a variety of different populations of basil. Basil is considered to have been brought to Serbia in the 12th century by monks returning from their pilgrimages. Essential oils isolated from herb of ten basil populations traditionally grown on the territory of the Republic of Serbia have been analyzed. The selected populations have been designated under codes from T-1 to T-10 and deposited in the Plant Genes Bank at Serbia and at the Institute for Crop Sciences of the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade. Essential oils of all tested basil populations were light yellow and had a specific aromatic scent. The composition of essential oil in the dry herb of the tested populations ranged from 0.87 to 1.84%. The results of gas chromatographic analysis of essential oils in tested basil populations pointed to their complex chemical composition and to the fact that they belong to the most appreciated European chemotype. In total thirty three components have been identified in the essential oils. The most common fraction of components in all tested oils was terpenoides. The predominant component in all essential oils is monoterpen linalol, ranging from 51.52 to 74.73%. Phenylpropranoid methylchavicol ranged from 2.49 to 18.97%. Essential oils of populations T-6, T-7, T-8 and T-10 were characterized by elevated 1.8-cineol (4.44, 3.70, 4.01 and 3.43%, respectively). Populations T-3 and T-4 in essential oil contained higher percent of geraniol (4.27 and 3.31%, respectively). In all ten essential oils sesquiterpen fraction consisted of greater number of components, with germacrene having special significance as it was found in high percentage in all populations. The highest content of germacrene was registered in population T-9 (4.30%), T-10 (4.18%), while in others it ranged from 2.17 to 3.69%. Basil populations traditionally grown in Serbia have exceptional quality. They represent an excellent raw material for the production of basil essential oils, for the needs of pharmaceutical, food and chemical industry

Medical ethnobotany on the Javor Mountain (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

“…Orthodox rituals [71]. Similar UV indices (above 0.90), as registered for the mentioned plants from the north-eastern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, have been reported by Šarić-Kundalić et al [10], indicating the most frequently used medicinal plants.…”

Chemical composition, antioxidative and antimicrobial activity of essential oil Ocimum sanctum L.

“…Ocimum sanctum L. je vrsta bosiljka koja do sada u Srbiji nije istraživana a malo je proučavana i u Evropi. U Srbiji je najviše proučavana vrsta Ocimum basilicum L. čije etarsko ulje po hemijskom sastavu pripada linalolnom (evropskom) hemotipu i ispoljava izrazito antimikrobnu aktivnost [3,18,19].…”

“…Ostale komponente u etarskom ulju zastupljene su u znatno manjoj količini: eugenol 7,25%, β-elemen 4,71%, metil eugenol 4,21%, trans-β-farnezen 4,09%, kariofilen oksid 3,39%. Interesantno je da je dobijen veoma nizak sadržaj linalola (0,07%) i metil kavikola (0,08%), komponenti koje su najzastupljenije u evropskom hemotipu bosiljka [18,27]. Na slici 2 prikazan je normalizovani hromatogram dominantnih komponenti u etarskom ulju izražen u vrednostima koncentracionog indeksa (CL) i relativnog retencionog vremena (RRT).…”

Mineral composition of different basil (Ocimum spp.) genotypes

“…Besides, concerning other important parameters like a basil herbal yield and its morphological appearance, this study can significantly contribute to its selection for pharmaceutical and food processing industry purposes. Although many studies have focused on the characterization of volatile oils and phenol compounds of different genotypes within this species [24][25][26], the obtained results could be also used to describe genotype diversity and to indicate to chemical polymorphism in mineral composition of this herbaceous and medical plant. Apart from the fact that they contain essential minerals, the main constraint of each plant species of wild origin is the presence of heavy metals in their herbal tissues, varying among the species and growing conditions [27,28], so that this study also highlights the specific heavy metal (Cu, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni and Pb) accumulation in each tested genotype during its growth for commercial purpose.…”