Provides Optimum Respiratory Support. It has anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, expectorant properties and is highly beneficial in Respiratory Tract Infections, and during Respiratory Stress.

Ocimum sanctum is an erect, herbaceous, much-branched, soft, hairy annual with purple or crimson flowers.

The leaves yield a volatile oil containing eugenol which possesses antibacterial and insecticidal properties. An aqueous decoction of the whole dried plant is reported to lower blood sugar levels. The juice of the leaves possesses diaphoretic,antiperiodic, stimulating and expectorant properties. It is used in catarrh and bronchitis. It is applied to the skin in ringworm and other cutaneous diseases.

The plant increased physical and mental endurance and increased tolerance in animals to physical, chemical, biological and emotional stress. The drug was found to possess anti-asthmatic and anti-rheumatic effect. This drug was also a potent anti-stress agent, superior to Eleuthero coccus and Panax ginseng. The drug exhibited potent anti-asthmatic effect in experimental models. The juice of this plant exhibited potent anti-viral activity.

The aqueous leaf extract exhibited a complete inhibition of the growth of all the three tested Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains.

Latin Names - Ocimum sanctum Linn. /Ocimum tenuiflorum Linn.
English Name - Holy Basil
Sanskrit / Indian Names - Tulasi, Vishnu priya.

Action
A herb that promotes optimum respiratory support. Tulasi has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, expectorant properties and is useful in respiratory tract infections. It helps during respiratory stress.

Habitat
It is found throughout India ascending upto 1,800 m. in the Himalayas, and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Ocimum tenuiflorum
At least two types of O.tenuiflorum are encountered with in cultivation; the green type (Sri tulasi) is the most common; the second type (Krishna tulasi) bears purple leaves.The plant is an erect, herbaceous, much-branched, softly hairy annual. The leaves are elliptic-oblong, acute or obtuse, entire or serrate, pubescent on both sides and minutely gland-dotted; the flowers are in close whorled racemes, purplish or crimson. The nutlets are sub-globose or broadly ellipsoid, slightly compressed, nearly smooth, pale brown or reddish and show small black markings.

Principal Constituents
A bright yellow volatile oil. Besides the volatile oil, the plant is reported to contain alkaloids, glycosides, saponins and tannins. The leaves contan ascorbic acid and carotene1.The major constituents of the essential oil from the plant, investigated in Germany, are: 1,8-cineole, 5.6-11.0; ocimene, 4.0-4.7; Caryophyllene, 1.4-2.5; humulene, 2.0-3.5; methylchavicol, 11.6-14.4; germacrene-D, 2.4-4.5; bisabolene, 7.6-15.4; bisabolene, 9.4-19.6; and eugenol, 24.2- 38.2%2.

Pharmacology
The ethanol extract (90%) of the leaves also showed hepatoprotective effect against paracetamol-induced liver damage in rats. Oral administration of the alcoholic extract of the leaves lowers blood sugar level in normal, glucose-fed hyperglycemic and streptozotocin- induced diabetic rats. The extract improves glucose tolerance and potentiates the action of exogenously injected insulin. The activity of the extract was 91.55 and 70.43% of that of tolbutamide in normal and diabetic rats, respectively.

The ethanolic extract (50%) of fresh leaves, volatile oil (from fresh leaves) and fixed oil (from the seeds) has shown anti-asthmatic activity and has significantly protected guinea pigs against histamine and acetylcholine induced pre-convulsive dyspnea. These extracts/oils also showed anti-inflammatory activity and inhibited the hindpaw edema in rats against carageenan, serotonin, histamine and PGE-2 induced inflammation.

The effect of ursolic acid, a triterpene from the leaves, in the allergic process has been evaluated employing rat peritoneal mast cells and by estimating the changes in the release of histamine induced by compound 48/80. Ursolic acid exhibited a significant protection of the mast cell membrane by preventing degranulation and decreased the quantity of histamine released by compound 48/80. The essential oil from the leaves has shown significant antipyretic activity in Brewer�s yeast-induced pyrexia in rats. The leaf extract is found effective in checking the protease activity of the dermatophyte, Trichophyton,at 50% concentration3.

Clinical Studies
In a preliminary clinical trial, on 16 patients suffering from viral encephalitis, the aqueous extract of O.sanctum leaves has been reported to lead to a higher survival rate of patients than that in a steroid treated group of ten patients. The incidence of residual neurological deficit in a period of one month was reported to be low in the extract treated patients4.

Toxicology
The LD50 of the leaf extract in mice was 3.75g/kg i.p.