The controlling possibilities of. Cultivation and Processing of Selected Medicinal Plants. Medicinal plants are important for human health. These plants have been used from the prehistoric times to present day. These plants based medicines are consumed in all civilizations. It is believed that the herbal medicine can give good effect to body without causing side effects to human life.
The current volume, "Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the Middle-East" brings together chapters on selected, unique medicinal plants of this region, known to man since biblical times. Written by leading researchers and scientists, this volume covers both domesticated crops and wild plants with great potential for cultivation.
Some of these. There is an enormous diversity of plants which are put into medicinal, beauty care and culinary purposes. Cultivation of commercially important medicinal plants is in high. Aromatic Plants. This book on 'Aromatic Plants' contains seven chapters. Introductory chapter on 'History, importance and scope of aromatic plants' deals with the importance of aromatic crops and their close association with human health and beauty care from time immemorial.
History of development of cultivation and aroma based industries in different regions. The reported life zone of sweet basil is 7 to 27 degrees centigrade, with 0. The crop which is susceptible to frost and cold-temperature injury, develops best in full sun and well-drained loamy or sandy-loam soils. In the hilly areas of the north India, it is advisable to raise it as a kharif crop. In the plains of north India or South India and Assam, it could however, be grown both as a kharif and rabi crops.
In areas with heavy rainfall, the crop could be raised before the onset of monsoon. The crop is raised through seeds. Two equal split doses of N 40 kg is applied as top dressing. Singh et al studied the response of various doses of nitrogen to the crop. He reported that optimum nitrogen rates of Irrigation is required once a week, when it is grown as a summer crop. Otherwise once or twice a month irrigation is found to be sufficient. Depending upon the environment, sweet basil is harvested times annually and grown as an annual or short-lived perennial.
The first harvest is initiated just prior to open bloom of the white or purplish flower that appear in summer, weeks after planting. As the quality of the product associated with colour and aroma retention is strongly influenced by post-harvest handling, leaves and flowering tops are dried at low temperatures to retain maximum colour before guiding to marketable size or distilling for essential oil.
Floral harvests yield about tonnes of flowers and the final harvest of the whole plant is about tonnes of herbage per hectare. Putievsky have studied different harvesting schedules for basil in Israel. He has also studied influence of high frequency of harvest and the date of the first harvest on plant growth.
Higher yields were obtained from later phenological stages. It was observed that higher yield of herbage and oil was recorded when harvesting was done between early seeding to late seeding stage of growth at Delhi conditions. Veeranjaneyulu studied heavy metal tolerance in basil. Ocimum bacilicum was found to be tolerant to higher concentrations of copper and zinc and is susceptible to copper and nickel.
They also studied intrachloroplast localization of Zn and Ni in Ocimum bacilicum in order to investigate the mechanism and specificity of metal tolerance. It was observed that Zn activity was comparatively greater in chloroplast envelop membranes and stroma than the Ni. Ni was largely found in the lamellar and stroma fraction. Analysis of lamellar fraction revealed that photosystem II particles were richer in radioactivity than photosystem I particles.
The photochemical events of photosynthesis were less affected in Zn-treated plants than in the Ni-treated plants. Ahmed studied the effect of gibberellic acid and cycocel on the growth and essential oil content of Ocimum bacilicum.
Gibberellic and 50, and ppm decreased the weight of plants, especially that of leaves in a concentration dependent manner. Gasparyan investigated the mineral contents of basil under open hydroponic conditions. Basil had the higher P contents. The yield of hydroponically cultivated herb plants was fold that of soil culture and contains folds as much mineral elements as the latter did.
Tharanathan investigated the polysaccharides from the seed mucilage of Ocimum bacilicum. The mucilage was partly O-acylated and contained lipids and studied the distintegrative properties of the O. The seed powder of O. It was observed the effect of photoperiodism on the growth and essential oil of O. Flower development was most rapid when exposed to 18 h of light daily. The optimum yield in herb was obtained under 24 h of light, for photoperiods of 15 to 18 h, the yield was slightly lower but the plants reached harvesting stage 10 days earlier.
Mannito showed through labelling experiments that eugenol was biosynthesized from L-phenylalenine by loss of the carboxylic C atom at the ferulic acid level and introduction of extra C without skeletol re-arrangements. Methyl eugenol estragole and chavicol were biosynthesized similarly.
Phenylalanine, cinnamic acid and ferulic acid were intermediates in the biosynthesis of eugenol. Mannito further observed incorporation of specifically labelled cinnamic acid into eugenol. The results were interpreted on the basis of a new biogenetic hypothesis. Lange studied production accumulation of essential oil in Ocimum bacilicum cell cultures.
In morphologically differentiated callus and suspension cultures, both free monoterpenoids and phenylpropanold components and their glycosides were found. They further observed that essential oil formation is apparently not related to the place of accumulation. The principal glycoside components were linalool, borneol, eugenol and thymol glycosides and considerable amount of monoterpenoid glucosides. Clonal propagation of Ocimum species has been studied.
Apical nodal segments of Ocimum were cultured in revised MS medium supplemented with cytokinins, auxins individually and in combinations.
Uniform increase in shoot number from a single explant was observed during subculturing it at optimum conditions up to days with an initial lag of days, after which shoot number remained the same. Dalton studied chlorophyll production and photosynthetic development in fedbatch cultures of Ocimum bacilicum. Sweet basil cell suspension were cultured in the glucose limiting conditions of fedbatch cultures and the glucoseexcess conditions of batch cultures.
When compared, the cells in fedbatch culture had a higher specific production rate of total chlorophyll and a higher potential photosynthetic rate. Results from these and other fedbatch cultures indicated that total chlorophyll did not change much with specific growth rate. Thus, the inhibition of total chlorophyll at high glucose feed rates was not thought to be caused directly by the increase in specific growth rate. Photosynthetic development of O. Phosphate in MS medium was found to be limiting growth; when PO4 concentration in the medium feed was doubled, the concentration of dry biomass and of all biomass elements increased.
After doubling the phosphate concentration, fructose became limiting. Production rate of chlorophyll was inhibited when glucose concentration in the cell was above or threshold of about 1.
The degree of inhibition was a function of glucose concentration above this threshold. Cytological studies of Ocimum sp. The floral structure of Ocimum species is most suitable for pollination by insects, particulary by bee. There is a strong tendency in the species to outbreed within the population.
The frequency of intravarietal hybrids varied from 5. Krishnan recorded outcrossing upto They have also studied inheritance of field reaction to Cercospora disease. It was found that field reaction was oligogenically controlled and possibly by a single gene with the dominant allele conforming field resistance. Sobti did extensive hybridization experiments. The failure of formation of hybrids in interspecific crosses was due to differences in floral structure of the species physiological factors and genetic factors.
The reciprocal crosses in these are successful. The elucidation of genetics of pigmentation in seedling and adult plant parts in this crop has provided a valuable gene marker in seedling pigmentation for such studies.
Inheritance of chemical constituents of essential oils in O. They showed that citral, linalool, geraniol, which are monoterpenes are inherited independently of methyl chavicol and eugenol which are phenolic in nature.
Three chemical races rich in 1 camphor, 2 eugenol and 3 methyl chavicol have been isolated from O. Presence and absence of these constituents is controlled by a single gene which exists in three allelic responsible for the formation of methyl chavicol. Any of the two recessive alleles can be present in the plant in addition to the dominant gene but is not able to express it.
Thus, no eugenol or camphor is formed in the plants having gene for methyl chavicol. They have further showed that gene responsible for citral is dominant over geraniol and linalool. But the gene responsible for the formation of methyl cinnamate blocks formation of citral, geraniol linalool and methyl chavicol and eugenol.
Other components include methyl cinnamate, which has been reported to be the major component of a variety of sweet basil, 1,8-cineole, eugenol, borneol, ocimene, geraniol, anethole, cadinols, b-carophyllene, a-terpineol, camphor, 3-octanone, methyeugenol, safrole, sesquithujene and 1-epibicyclosesquiphellandrene among others.
The percentage of major chemical constituents differ in oil obtained from different parts of the plant viz. There are great variations in concentrations of these components in the volatile oils from different sources. A comparative study of chemical composition of French, Italian and Moraccan basil oil was made. The results are tabulated in Tablem It is very clear from these comparative studies that the chemical composition and morphological characteristics of O.
The basil oil of Chinese origin was also investigated. The major compounds identified were methyl chavicol, linalool, 1,8-cineole, ocimene, linalyl acetate, eugenol, menthone, cyclohexanol, cyclohexanone, nerol and myrcenol. The volatile oil of a variety of sweet basilis shown to have an antibacterial and insecticidal properties.
The oil has important medicinal propents. The study was prompted by the reported use of the fresh juice of this plant to treat a maggots-infested nasal disease in India. Sweet basil oil is reported to be nontoxic.
Essential oil of O. Antitubercular and antimalarial action of oil is also reported. Estragole methyl chavicol , a major component in some sweet basil oils, has been shown to produce hepatocellular carcinomas in mice. Sweet basil is used as a fragrance ingredients in perfumes, hair dressings, dental creams and mouth washes. Used as a spice and in charteuse liqueur. The oil and oleoresin are extensively used as a flavour ingredient in all major food products, usually in rather low use levels mostly below 0.
Used for head colds and as a cure for warts and worms among other ailments. It is more widely used as a medicinal herb in the Far East, especially in China and India. It was first described in a major Chinese herbal around A. The whole herb is also used to treat snake and insect bites. Guna : Laghu, Ruksha. Rasa : Katu, Tikta. Veerya : Ushna. Vipaka : Katu. Dosha : Kaphavataghna. Pharmacology : Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil has been shown against M. Eugenol and methyleugenol showed a positive activity.
Adaptogenic antistress activity has been found in mice and rats. The plant increased the physical endurance and prevented stress-induced ulcers. In general pharmacology, the aqueous extract showed hypotensive activity and inhibited the smooth muscle contraction induced by acetylcholine, carbachol and histamine.
It also potentiated the hexobarbitone sleeping time. Protective action against histamine-induced bronchospasm has been shown in animals. Safety : The fresh leaves are taken as prasad by millions of Indians for many years. The powdered leaves, g per day were taken by patients for 3 months. The only side effect was constipation. In animals with large dose of an extract, antispermatogenic activity has been shown. Clinical Usage : A tea prepared with the leaves of Tulsi is commonly used in cough, cold, mild indigestion, diminished appetite and malaise.
The solid extract of Tulsi in a dose of mg x 3 for one week, significantly relieved the breathlessness in 20 patients with tropical eosinophilia. There was however no reduction in the eosinophil count in peripheral blood.
It is commonly used with black pepper in bronchial asthma. An oil extracted from Tulsi is used as drops in ear infections. Fungal and bacterial infections of skin are treated with Tulsi juice. The seeds are used as a general tonic.
Depending upon their geographical origin, a number of basil oils are offered for sale in the market. This is mainly because of the varying chemical composition of the oil. There are three main commercial types. The first is sweet basil oil, of which the principal constituents are cineole and d-linalool; the second is the Reunion-type basil oil, with cineole, d-camphor and methyl chavicol being the major constituent; the third, an intermediate type is comparatively rich in methyl cinnamate eugenol or thymol.
All these types are distilled from varieties of the plant Ocimum bacilicum. For the standpoint of production statistics, it is prudent to combine all the sources into one basil oil.
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