Basil (genus)
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African basil ( Ocimum gratissimum ) |
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The plant genus basil ( Ocimum ) belongs to the family of the mint (Lamiaceae). The approximately 60 species are mainly found in temperate Africa and South America. Some species and their varieties are grown worldwide. Basil refers to both the genus Ocimum and the best-known species Ocimum basilicum , the basil used as a spice in Europe . At least seven of the basil types are used in cuisine, medicine and religion.
description
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Vegetative characteristics
Basil species are evergreen, herbaceous plants or shrubs with an aromatic smell. Usually all parts of the plant are hairy, only the leaf blade is often not. Young stems are often square.
The opposite arranged leaves are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The leaf blades are simple. The leaf margins are smooth to toothed. Stipules are missing.
Generative characteristics
In the annual inflorescences there are usually many false whorls, each containing two to three, rarely ten flowers. The small, entire, stalked bracts are soon thrown off.
The hermaphrodite flowers are zygomorphic and five-fold with a double flower envelope . The five sepals are fused into a tubular to bell-shaped calyx, which is glabrous or occasionally slightly hairy, and enlarges during fruiting. It is often two-lipped, with the upper lip being tridentate and the lower lip being bidentate. The five petals are fused. The crown is two-lipped. The four stamens are fused with the crown, but free from each other; the outer two are slightly longer than the inner two. The anthers are egg to kidney-shaped. Two carpels have become a top permanent ovary grown, it is divided by a false septum into four chambers. The stylus is longer than the stamens, ending in a double lip scar.
The egg-shaped to spherical claws become sticky when wet.
ingredients
Most types of basil contain 0.3 to 1.5 percent oil in their leaves. Species with a high oil content (over three percent) are Ocimum gratissimum and Ocimum kilimandscharicum . For the ingredients of the essential oil extracted from the leaves, see basil oil . In summary, depending on the type, harvest time and origin, linalool , estragole or camphor can be the main components. In addition to carbohydrates and protein, the leaves contain vitamin A and vitamin C , as well as oleanolic acid and ursolic acid .
Cold pressing is used to extract oil from the seeds of different types of basil , which has different proportions of linoleic acid , linolenic acid and oleic acid . The yield is about 20 percent.
use
Several types of basil are used economically by humans. In particular the species Ocimum americanum , Ocimum basilicum , Ocimum × citriodorum , Ocimum gratissimum , Ocimum kilimandscharicum . Ocimum minimum and Ocimum tenuiflorum have been grown for 3000 years for the purpose of oil extraction (see basil oil ), as a vegetable, spice or ornamental plant ( O. americanum ).
Basil, especially Ocimum basilicum, was used as a medicinal plant in antiquity and the Middle Ages, for example against headaches and tear fistulas.
Indian basil is an important part of the traditional Indian art of healing Ayurveda and is now sold as a medicinal tea in Central Europe. But it is also suitable for driving away insects.
The basil also has a religious character in various parts of the world. India is an example of this. According to Hindu beliefs, the tulsi plant, Indian basil, is dedicated to the god Vishnu . The herb symbolizes him, his Avatar Krishna or his wife Lakshmi . Also in the Greco-Latin antiquity, the deity was used (to "strengthen healing power").
Common names
The common name basil comes from the Greek basilikos and means “royal”, probably because of its aromatic, noble scent. Thai basil is not a precisely defined plant species, but the name for a spice, which Ocimum basilicum , Ocimum × citriodorum and Ocimum tenuiflorum can contain.
Systematics
The genus Ocimum was established by Carl von Linné . The botanical genus name Ocimum is derived from the Greek word ōkimon , from Indo-European ok- ('hot' in relation to the smell of the plant). Synonyms for Ocimum L. are Becium Lindl. , Hyperaspis Briq. , Nautochilus Bremek. , Erythrochlamys pickle . The genus Ocimum belongs to the tribe Ocimeae in the subfamily Nepetoideae within the family of Lamiaceae .
American basil ( Ocimum americanum )
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Peruvian basil ( Ocimum campechianum )
Indian basil ( Ocimum tenuiflorum )
Lime basil ( Ocimum × africanum , Syn .: Ocimum × citriodorum ) with flowers
And the hybrids (selection):
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- Description in the Western Australian Flora . (Section description)
- Xi-wen Li, Ian C. Hedge: Lamiaceae. : Ocimum. , P. 296 - online with the same text as the printed work , In: Wu Zheng-yi, Peter H. Raven (Ed.): Flora of China. Volume 17: Verbenaceae through Solanaceae , Science Press and Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing and St. Louis, 1994. ISBN 0-915279-24-X (sections description, distribution and systematics)
- R. Hiltunen: Chemical Composition of Ocimum Species. In: R. Hiltunen and Y. Holm (eds.): Basil: The genus Ocimum. Taylor & Francis, 1999. ISBN 90-5702-432-2 , pp. 67 ff.
- JH Wiersema, B. Leon: World Economic Plants. CRC Press 1999. ISBN 0-8493-2119-0 . P. 346.
- Sabine BJ Eckelmann: Biodiversity of the genus Ocimum L., especially of the cultural groups. Dissertation on obtaining the degree "Doctor of Agricultural Sciences" at the University of Kassel, Kassel 2002 Table of contents of the online version.
- Alan James Paton: A Synopsis of Ocimum L. (Labiatae) in Africa. In: Kew Bulletin , Volume 47, Issue 3, 1992, pp. 403-435. JSTOR 4110571
- Roberto F. Vieira: Genetic Diversity of Basil (Ocimum spp.) Based on RAPD Markers. In: Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science , Volume 128, Issue 1, 2003, S: 94-99. Full text PDF.
- Raimo Hiltunen, Yvonne Holm: Basil: The Genus Ocimum - Medicinal and Aromatic Plants - Industrial Profiles . CRC Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-203-30377-1 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Zotter : Ancient medicine. The collective medical manuscript Cod. Vindobonensis 93 in Latin and German. Academic printing and Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1980 (= Interpretationes ad codices. Volume 2); 2nd, improved edition, ibid. 1986, ISBN 3-201-01310-2 , p. 184 f. (to the plant Ocymum ).
- ↑ Hans Zotter : Ancient medicine. The collective medical manuscript Cod. Vindobonensis 93 in Latin and German. Academic printing and Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1980 (= Interpretationes ad codices. Volume 2); 2nd, improved edition ibid. 1986, ISBN 3-201-01310-2 , p. 185 (“Plant Ocymum, I ask you to the highest deity, who bade you grow, that you heal everything and come to the aid with the utmost effect what I ask of you as medicine ”).
- ↑ Karl Bertsche: Abhraham a Sancta Clara : blossom harvest from his works. Volume 2, 3rd edition. Freiburg im Breisgau 1919, p. 290 ("There is a certain herb that the Italians call basilica. This herb, when it is subtly touched, gives off a noble smell": basil or royal herb).
- ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. Birkhäuser, Basel / Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0755-2 , p. 226.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Ocimum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 16, 2018.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Species list for Ocimum in the Red List of South African Plants - last accessed on March 27, 2014
Web links
- How basil gets its scent. Researchers discover enzymes responsible for the production of fragrances in plants. In: Wissenschaft.de . June 14, 2006, accessed September 8, 2019 .
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