Tulasi is cultivated for religious and traditional medicine purposes, and also for its essential oil. It is widely used as an herbal tea, commonly used in Ayurveda, and has a place within the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, in which devotees perform worship involving holy basil plants or leaves.
Holy basil is an erect, many-branched subshrub, 30–60 cm (12–24 in) tall with hairy stems. Leaves are green or purple; they are simple, petioled, with an ovate blade up to 5 cm (2 in) long, which usually has a slightly toothed margin; they are strongly scented and have a decussatephyllotaxy. The purplish flowers are placed in close whorls on elongated racemes.[6]
The three main morphotypes cultivated in India and Nepal are Ram tulsi (the most common type, with broad bright green leaves that are slightly sweet), the less common purplish green-leaved (KrishnaorShyam tulsi) and the common wild vana tulsi (e.g., Ocimum gratissimum).[8]
Tulasi (Sanskrit: Surasa) has been used in Ayurvedic and Siddha practices for its supposed medicinal properties.[14][15]
Thai cuisine
[edit]Phat kaphrao mu – Thai holy basil with pork – a common dish in Thailand
The leaves of holy basil, known as kaphrao in the Thai language (Thai: กะเพรา), are commonly used in Thai cuisine for certain stir-fries and curries such as phat kaphrao (Thai: ผัดกะเพรา) — a stir-fry of Thai holy basil with meats, seafood or, as in khao phat kraphao, with rice. Two different types of holy basil are used in Thailand, a "red" variant which tends to be more pungent, and a "white" version for seafood dishes.[16][17]Kaphrao should not be confused with horapha (Thai: โหระพา), which is normally known as Thai basil,[18] or with Thai lemon basil (maenglak; Thai: แมงลัก).
Water disinfection using O. tenuiflorum extracts was tested by Bhattacharjee et al. 2013 and Sadul et al. 2009. Both found an alcoholic extract to be more effective than aqueousorleaf juice. Sundaramurthi et al 2012 finds the result to be safe to drink and antimicrobial. A constituent analysis by Sadul found alkaloids, steroids, and tannins in the aqueous, and alkaloids and steroids only in the alcoholic extract.[21]
Tulasi is a sacred plant for Hindus, particularly the Vaishnavite sect. It is worshipped as the avatarofLakshmi,[citation needed] and is often planted in courtyards of Hindu houses or temples to Hanuman.[22] The ritual lighting of lamps each evening during Karthik includes the worship of the tulsi plant.[23][24] Vaishnavites are also known as "those who bear the tulsi around the neck".[22]
Every evening, Bengali Hindus place earthen lamps in front of tulsi plants. During the Kati Bihu festival celebrated in Assam, people light earthen lamps (diya) at the foot of the household tulsi plants and pray.[27]
^Staples, George; Michael S. Kristiansen (1999). Ethnic Culinary Herbs. University of Hawaii Press. p. 73. ISBN978-0-8248-2094-7.
^ abWarrier, P K (1995). Indian Medicinal Plants. Orient Longman. p. 168. ISBN978-0-86311-551-6.
^"Ocimum tenuiflorum". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
^Kothari, S. K.; Bhattacharya, A. K.; Ramesh, S.; Garg, S. N.; Khanuja, S. P. S. (November–December 2005). "Volatile Constituents in Oil from Different Plant Parts of Methyl Eugenol-Rich Ocimum tenuiflorum L.f. (syn. O. sanctum L.) Grown in South India". Journal of Essential Oil Research. 17 (6): 656–658. doi:10.1080/10412905.2005.9699025. S2CID95551382.
^"Holy basil". Drugs.com. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
^Sundaram, R. Shanmuga; Ramanathan, M; Rajesh, R; Satheesh, B; Saravanan, D (2012). "LC-MS Quantification of Rosmarinic Acid and Ursolic Acid in Theocimum Sanctumlinn. Leaf Extract (Holy Basil, Tulsi)". Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies. 35 (5): 634. doi:10.1080/10826076.2011.606583. S2CID95225535.
^Padalia, Rajendra C.; Verma, Ram S. (2011). "Comparative volatile oil composition of four Ocimum species from northern India". Natural Product Research. 25 (6): 569–575. doi:10.1080/14786419.2010.482936. PMID21409717. S2CID205836713.
^NIIR Board, National Institute of Industrial Research (India) (2004). Compendium of Medicinal Plants. 2004. National Institute of Industrial Research. p. 320. ISBN978-81-86623-80-0.
^Biswas, N. P.; Biswas, A. K. (2005). "Evaluation of some leaf dusts as grain protectant against rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae (Linn.)". Environment and Ecology. 23 (3): 485–488.
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