Plant medicine with Ocimum basilicum
I am in my extra green mood again so do forgive me if March will have more green things in my posts than usual. Today, I will focus on basil and give you amazing info about this great plant, from uses, research on it, and health benefits to some recipes that I have tried.
CC0 image, Unsplash, author: Markus Spiske, adaptedA couple of years ago, when I was living in another house, I had basil seeds that I planted in 3 different containers and what I noticed is that the plant grows like crazy. I had two windows filled with basil and there was almost no food that I did not put it in. I am thinking about growing it again since I am a huge fan of its taste, especially when it is in pesto form. Who knows, maybe I will remind myself of all the great stuff about it with this text and it will be exactly what I need to go out and get some seeds.
Ocimum basilicum, commonly known as basil, is a plant first cultivated in India (it is still a popular medicinal ingredient for Ayurvedic medicine) thousands of years ago. Ever since then, it has found its way to many cuisines around the world but has remained the most famous for pesto, a thick paste made from basil, pine nuts, oil, and parmesan cheese, that is added to many dishes. Basil is also called Saint Joseph's Wort and it is a herb belonging to the mint family. It is a nutrient-heavy and calorie-light plant with only 22 calories per 100 grams.
Nutritional value...
Basil is rich in vitamins A, K, and C, magnesium, iron, potassium, and calcium. It contains volatile oil sestragole, linalool, cineole, eugenol, sabinene, myrcene, and limonene which restricts the growth of many bacteria, including Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Yersinia enterocolitica, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This means that by adding basil to your food, you are not only adding taste but reducing the number of harmful bacteria. You can choose from many different kinds of basil, from sweet basil (Genovese basil) that is the most commercially available and has a strong clove scent because of its high concentration of the chemical eugenol to lime and lemon basil which have a strong citrus scent due to chemical limonene.
Basil is most commonly an annual plant that grows between 30–130 cm and has light green, silky leaves 3–11 cm long and 1–6 cm wide. Its flowers are small, white, and in a terminal spike shape. It is sensitive to cold and loves sunny, dry areas. You can grow it outdoors or on your windowsill that is facing the sun. This is one of those plants that respond lovely to picking of her leaves. It helps promote growth because the plant responds by converting pairs of leaflets next to the topmost leaves into new stems. The more you pick them, the more the plant will grow just be careful about diseases. Basil suffers from several plant pathogens from fungal diseases and gray mold to downy mildew.
There is a very detailed paper on basil that deals with its handling of physical, chemical, metabolic and psychological stress through a unique combination of pharmacological actions. It counters metabolic stress through normalization of blood glucose, blood pressure, and lipid levels while it deals with psychological stress through positive effects on memory and cognitive function and through its anxiolytic and anti-depressant properties. You can read the full paper about it here:
Tulsi - Ocimum sanctum: A herb for all reasons by Marc Maurice Cohen
When it comes to health benefits, you would be surprised what this plant is good for. I know, I know, you have heard about pesto and using basil as a spice but the story does not stop there, there are actually several health benefits associated with basil. A review from 2013, investigated the potential of basil preventing cancer or being used in its treatment. With phytochemicals eugenol, rosmarinic acid, apigenin, myretenal, luteolin, β-sitosterol, and carnosic acid that it contains, basil is increasing antioxidant activity, changing gene expression, triggering cell death, and slowing an overall cell division. More research is definitely needed but the potential is evident. You can check that review here:
Ocimum sanctum L (Holy Basil or Tulsi) and its phytochemicals in the prevention and treatment of cancer by Baliga MS, Jimmy R, Thilakchand KR, Sunitha V, Bhat NR, Saldanha E, Rao S, Rao P, Arora R, Palatty PL
There was a study on rabbits where they were exposed to oxidative stress, an increase in damaging free radicals. The rabbits were then given 2 grams of fresh basil leaves each day for 30 days while scientists monitored their cardiovascular and respiratory adaptation. There was a significant decrease in blood sugar levels and an increase in antioxidant activity. The study concludes how the potential antistressor activity of basil is partly attributable to its antioxidant properties. You can check that study here:
Antistressor activity of Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) against experimentally induced oxidative stress in rabbits by Jyoti S, Satendra S, Sushma S, Anjana T, Shashi S
If you are interested in learning more about the antioxidant properties of basil, you can read all about them in this research:
Antioxidant Activity of Basil by H.R. Juliani and J.E. Simon 
Many countries have basil in its stories and folklore, from Italy to India and there are many rituals and beliefs associated with it. In Hinduism, Holy basil, also called Tulsi, is very highly revered as a manifestation of the Goddess Tulasi and as a symbol of love, fidelity, eternal life, purification, and protection.
From Paganism to Orthodox Churches...
Different Pagan folklore claims that basil helps with or prevents different things depending on what country you are in. It is associated with protection against scorpions, warding off harmful spells, keeping away pests, for safe travels, money, protection against insanity and of course, deals with love. During Tudor times, small pots of basil were given to guests as a parting gift and a pot of basil placed on a balcony in Italy meant that the woman who was living there was ready to receive suitors. There is also a legend how in Romania, if you gave a pot of basil to the opposite sex, it was a sign of engagement. What is interesting is that basil still holds great value to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox Church, Macedonian Orthodox Church, and Romanian Orthodox Church where it is used to prepare holy water and is placed below church altars.
From Greeks to Egyptians, basil was one of the plants associated with safe travels after death and opening the gates of the next world.
When I used to have lots and lots of basil around, I would put it in almost everything. I used to dry it myself and add it as a spice to my food but what I liked the most was picking it fresh and using it directly as it was, from my pot to my plate. I added it to lasagnja, salads and sandwitches, soups, pizza, frittatas, and anything else that I could think of. I think my favorite was green humus that I once made. It was absolutey delicious and sure, there was pesto, lots and lots of pesto.
My pesto recipe...
Many people make pesto and the basic recipe is the same but we all like to add some things to make it ourown and special depending on what we like the most when it comes to spices and an overal flavor of our food. Keep in mind that pesto darkens in contact with air so keep it covered in your fridge. You will notice how there is no garlic in my recipe which people usually use and no olive oil but trust me, my pesto works just fine without them. Those are two ingredients that I am well aware are healthy but I just can not stand their taste, never did, so you will never find them in my kitchen. I like to put nuts in everything so they are in my pesto too and depending on what I have around, those pine nuts will have some company from almonds or even walnuts but mostly almonds. I tried adding hazelnuts once but did not like it that much. Here is my recipe...
1: Get some fresh basil, the more the better. I never weight it, it is aproximately 3 handfulls of it. Chop it up very good or use some kind of food processor for it. Add some sort of oil to it, I used almond oil and it works perfectly.
2: Add grated cheese that you like. It should be half of the amount of the basil so if I put two handfuls of basil then I put one handful of cheese. Add pine nuts, about one handful of them and whatever nuts you have lying around, my choice is almonds and walnuts. Mix it all and grind it into a paste.
3: Season it to your liking. I do not like too spicy and hot food but I do like a sprinkle of chili and turmeric but do not overdo it because it will take the focus away from basil. Add salt as the main spice, the rest should be in moderation. And there you go, 3 simple steps and you have a delicious pesto.
If you are interested in learning more on this subject, check out these REFERENCES:
Why everyone should eat basil from medicalnewstoday.com
Basil: What’s not to Love? from American society for nutrition
Basil from wikipedia.org
12 Health Benefits of Basil, According to Science (+10 Delicious Basil Recipes) from jenreviews.com
I would like to give a special thanks to @naturalmedicine for inspiring me to do this post as a response to their "Plant medicine chalenge". Be sure to check their post HERE and do go over the comments, there will be many amazing posts about lovely plants, your chance to learn something new or to be reminded of some amazing stuff.
Until next time,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!
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- all images used in this post are free for commercial use, they are royalty free with the links to original images provided under them
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Basil is one of my favorite herbs (medicinal and culinary). I make my own basil infused oil and use for cooking and it adds such a nice, almost subtle, flavor when I use it for making eggs.
Oh that is very nice to have your own oil and I am sure it goes great with eggs since fresh one works so nicely.
In one of the places I used to live we had fresh basil growing and I tended to use it a lot I never knew the health benefits of it so thanks for the info
I miss that time and I am definitely thinking about growing it again, you think about it too, it is really easy :)
It is something I am considering a little garden after our next move
love, love, love basil! Just the smell of it alone is wonderful. Didn't know the cultural aspects surrounding basil, interesting to know. Your pesto looks fabulous! I haven't tried adding turmeric to my recipe but I will next time.
Turmeric is great, just do not add too much of it, basil still needs to be the center of the show ;)
I always enjoyed basil especially in pesto but all your research and knowledge you shared has given me more reasons to like it and benefit from it!
I always find I get a bit drowsy when I eat fresh pesto and could never figure out why - perhaps because of it's anti- stress quality.
Thanks for sharing!
hahaha, I have never heard of someone becoming drowsy after pesto but maybe you are extra sensitive and that is just adorable, some people need pills, you need basil 💚
Yes both me and my husband are that way. He always is happy when we have pesto for he knows he'll have a good snooze afterwards.
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This is one plant that I love and also grow it in my garden. It has some amazing benefits like you have mentioned. Whenever I am down with cold and cough I use basil leaves in my tea and I see they make a lot of difference.
I think I have never used it in a tea, will have to try that too, thanks 💚
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Basil is one of my favourite, if not my favourite herb. I just love it and hate when I don't have it growing at my back door. I didn't know all its associations - so interesting - or that it's indigenous to India. I try never to not have basil pesto in my fridge and mine, I make with nuts other than pine (they are too expensive). I do use olive oil and garlic and a local very mature artisan cheese.
Incidentally, one of the ways of stopping it from oxidising (going dark) is to make sure that the top is always covered with a layer of oil. It really does work and means that its shelf life in the fridge is considerably extended because moulds don't grow on oil.
In my country, pine nuts are the most expensive ones :) Other ones are much cheaper. As for the oxidation, I always eat it fast enough so it is never a problem for me hihi :D
Here too - I like them, but they're like gold! I make big batches because we can't grow basil all year round and if I am smart, I have enough to tide me over. LOL
wow this is such a great informative post. I have always loved basil, the smell, the taste and to read all the amazing health benefits too. How blessed we are with nature and what she provides for us. Looking forward to moe of your green posts xx
She really provides a lot and blessed are we who know how to enjoy it ;) I am looking forward to more of my green posts too, thank you 💚