Name: Sweet Basil

Botanical Name: Ocimum basilicum Linn.

Family Name: Labiatae

This old world aromatic herb is cultivated the world over.  It is a perennial plant that can grow up to about 16 inches tall and it has dark green leaves.  The white flowers grow in whorls at the end of leave shoots and at the axis of leaves.  Crushed leaves have a sweet aromatic scent and they taste pungently spicy with a hint of clove and mint.  Fresh leaves are more aromatic than dried leaves.

Part Used: Leaf

Scent: clarifying, uplifting, energizing, refreshing

Composition: aesculitin, butyric acid, chavicol, anethole, eucalyptol, Linalool, eugenal, limonene

Properties: antidepressant, antiseptic, antispasmodic, carminative, cephalic, digestive, emmenagogue, expectorant, febrifuge, galactagogue, nervine, prophylactic, restorative,  stomachic, tonic.

Possible Uses:

Skin care: insect bites, insect repellant

Circulation, muscles and joints:  gout, muscular aches and pains, rheumatism

Respiratory system:  bronchitis, colds, coughs, earache, sinusitis

Digestive system:  dysperia, flatulence, nausea

Immune system:  colds, fever, flu, infectious disease

Nervous system:  anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, migraine, nervous tension.