Abstract

COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON ANATOMICAL AND HISTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF OCIMUM BASILICUM (L.) AND OCIMUM SANCTUM (L.)

Swathi S., Meenakshi Sundaravalli V.* and Sabitha Rani A.M.

ABSTRACT

The genus Ocimum is a member of the Lamiaceae family, comprising more than 160 species. It grows widely and is distributed throughout temperate regions of the world with the greatest number of species in Africa. The best known species are the strongly aromatic herb Ocimum basilicum (Thai basil) and as well as the medicinal herb Ocimum sanctum (holy basil or tulsi). Morphological and anatomical characters play a vital role in plant based crude drug identification and standardization. This study aimed to characterize the anatomical structure and histochemical analysis of two different species of Ocimum. For histochemical studies the free hand sections of leaves, stem and roots were taken and treated with the respective reagents for localizing components, viz. starch, protein, fat, lipids, alkaloid and tannin compounds in the tissues were micro-photographed and the results were tabulated. This study will enable to understand better the phytocompounds and their pharmaceutical exploitation.

Keywords: O.basilicum, O.sanctum, Histochemical, Anatomical, Secondary metabolities.