Basil essential oil has a fresh and herbaceous aroma with warm spicy undertones. It is a clearing and stimulating oil. Useful for relieving mental overload and anxiety or when feeling tired and concentration is needed.
- Latin Name
- Ocimum Basilicum
- Family
- Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
- Note
- Top to Middle
- Extraction
- Essential oil by steam distillation from the flowering herb.
- Constituents
- Linalol, methyl chavicol and small amounts of eugenol, limonene and citronellol among others.
- Origin
- India
Basil is a herb with a square type stem and can grow up to 60 cms high. The ovate leaves are dark green in colour and greyish green beneath, it bares greenish or pinky-white flowers and has a strong aromatic scent.
History
Widely used in far Eastern medicine especially in Ayurvedic tradition, where it is called Tulsi. It is used for respiratory problems such as bronchitis, coughs, colds, asthma and emphysema. Has also been used as an antidote to poisonous insect or snake bites, against epidemics and fever such as malaria and for the improvement of blood circulation and the digestive system. In the West it is considered a ‘cooling’ herb and was used for rheumatic pain and irritable skin conditions. The Chinese use it for stomach and kidney ailments.
