''Ocimum gratissimum'', also known as clove basil, African basil,PLANTS Profile for ''Ocimum gratissimum'' , USDA Plants, Retrieved Jan. 7, 2009.
/ref> and in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

as wild basil,''Ocimum gratissimum'' - Wild Basil (Lamiaceae)

Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project The Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR) is a government-funded project created to provide technology, methods, and information to decision-makers, resource managers, and the general public to help support effective science-based management ...

(HEAR) is a species of basil. It is native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, southern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, and the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

, and naturalized in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

, Hawaii,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

Other names

''O. gratissimum'' is a common culinary herb in West Africa and is used by some in the Caribbean, going by many local names. *Ebe-amwonkho in Edo *Tchayo in Fon *Dogosui in Ewe *Efirin in

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

*Tamwṍtswã́gi in

Nupe Nupe may refer to: *Nupe people, of Nigeria *Nupe language, their language *The Bida Emirate, also known as the Nupe Kingdom, their former state *A member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African Amer ...

*Nchanwu in

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

*Kpan-sroh in (Irigwe language) *Añyeba in Igala *Daidoya in

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also * ...

*Nchuanwu also Arimu in

*Ntong in

Ibibio Ibibio may refer to: * Ibibio language * Ibibio people * Ibibio Sound Machine, an English electronic afro-funk band who sing in Ibibio See also * Ibiblio ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections" ...

, Efik *Kunudiri in Kirikeni Okuein *Nunum in

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language, a language spoken by the Akan people *Kwa languages, a language group which includes Akan *Central Tano languages, a language group w ...

*Nunu Bush in Jamaica (from the Akan language) *Yerba di holé in

Papiamento Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; nl, Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Arub ...

*Fobazen in Haiti *Scent leaves in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and in the

African diaspora The African diaspora is the worldwide collection of communities descended from native Africans or people from Africa, predominantly in the Americas. The term most commonly refers to the descendants of the West and Central Africans who were e ...

*Mujaaja in Uganda *Maduruthala in Sri Lanka මදුරුතලා *Kattutulasi(കാട്ടുതുളസി), Kattu Thrithaav (കാട്ടു തൃത്താവ്) in Kerala *Bai yeera in Thai ใบยี่หร่า *Rehani in

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

რეჰანი *Van Tulsi in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

*Tomka leaf (তোমকা/তোমহা পাতা) in chittagoneon Bangla *Awromangnrin in Baoulé *Kungurekwu u tamen'' in Tiv

Seed germination

Seeds seem to need strong sunlight to germinate, although germination has been achieved even during an average UK summer.

Phytochemical compounds

The

phytochemical Phytochemicals are chemical compounds produced by plants, generally to help them resist fungi, bacteria and plant virus infections, and also consumption by insects and other animals. The name comes . Some phytochemicals have been used as poisons ...

s present in ''Ocimum gratissimum'' contains

polyphenol Polyphenols () are a large family of naturally occurring organic compounds characterized by multiples of phenol units. They are abundant in plants and structurally diverse. Polyphenols include flavonoids, tannic acid, and ellagitannin, some of ...

s such as Gallic acid, Rosmanol, rosmarinic acid,

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

s such as Nepetrin,

Quercetin Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; capers, red onions, and kale are common foods containing appreciable amounts of it. It has a bitter flavor a ...

Rutin Rutin, also called rutoside, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside and sophorin, is the glycoside combining the flavonol quercetin and the disaccharide rutinose (α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranose). It is a flavonoid found in a wide variety of pla ...

Catechin Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. The name of the catechin chemical family derives from ''catechu'', which is the tannic ...

, and also

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

s and

terpenoid The terpenoids, also known as isoprenoids, are a class of naturally occurring organic chemicals derived from the 5-carbon compound isoprene and its derivatives called terpenes, diterpenes, etc. While sometimes used interchangeably with "terpenes" ...

Naringin Naringin is a flavanone-7-''O''-glycoside between the flavanone naringenin and the disaccharide neohesperidose. The flavonoid naringin occurs naturally in citrus fruits, especially in grapefruit, where naringin is responsible for the fruit's bit ...

, uteolin,

Apigenin Apigenin (4′,5,7-trihydroxyflavone), found in many plants, is a natural product belonging to the flavone class that is the aglycone of several naturally occurring glycosides. It is a yellow crystalline solid that has been used to dye wool. S ...

, Nepetoidin, Nevadensin, Hymenoxin, Salvigenin,

, 7,4,′-dimethyl ether, Basilimoside, 2alpha, 3 beta-Dihydroxyolean- 12en-28-oic acid, Methyl acetate, Oleanolic acid

Pharmacology of extracts and essential oils

The essential oil of ''Ocimum gratissimum'' contains

eugenol Eugenol is an allyl chain-substituted guaiacol, a member of the allylbenzene class of chemical compounds. It is a colorless to pale yellow, aromatic oily liquid extracted from certain essential oils especially from clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil ...

and shows some evidence of antibacterial activity. The essential oil has potential for use as a food preservative, and is toxic to ''

Leishmania ''Leishmania'' is a parasitic protozoan, a single-celled organism of the genus '' Leishmania'' that are responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. They are spread by sandflies of the genus ''Phlebotomus'' in the Old World, and of the genus '' ...

''.Effects of essential oils from ''Cymbopogon citratus'' (DC) Stapf., ''Lippia sidoides'' Cham., and ''Ocimum gratissimum'' L. on growth and ultrastructure of ''Leishmania chagasi'' promastigotes Oliveira V.C.S., Moura D.M.S., Lopes J.A.D., De Andrade P.P., Da Silva N.H., Figueiredo R.C.B.Q. ''

Parasitology Research ''Parasitology Research'', formerly known as ''Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde'' (German for ''Journal for Parasite Study'') is a journal founded by Albrecht Hase (born March 16th, 1882, died November 20th, 1962), a German entomologist and par ...

'' 2009 104:5 (1053-1059)

Insect repellent

''O. gratissimum'' repels the thrips ''

Thrips tabaci ''Thrips tabaci'' is a species of very small insect in the genus ''Thrips'' in the order Thysanoptera. It is commonly known as the onion thrips, the potato thrips, the tobacco thrips or the cotton seedling thrips. It is an agricultural pest that ...

'', and so is a useful

insect repellent An insect repellent (also commonly called "bug spray") is a substance applied to skin, clothing, or other surfaces to discourage insects (and arthropods in general) from landing or climbing on that surface. Insect repellents help prevent and cont ...

in other crops.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2355390 Herbs gratissimum Medicinal plants Plants described in 1753 Flora of Africa Flora of Madagascar Flora of Asia Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus