African and Holy Basil - a review of ethnobotany, phytochemistry, and toxicity of their essential oil: Current trends and prospects for antimicrobial/anti-parasitic pharmacology

Abstract

The increased global health burden and mortality rate due to synthetic drug side effects and microbial resistance requires immediate attention for safer and better agents. This quest has fueled the search for phytotherapeutic alternatives, such as essential oils (EOs). Ocimum (Basil) essential oil has pleiotropic health-promoting potential in the treatment of a variety of diseases. This review focused on the ethnobotany, phytochemicals, antimicrobial properties, and toxicity of African and Holy Basil essential oils. African Basil EOs have been used to treat malaria, typhoid, yellow fever candidiasis, influenza, tooth gargle, sore eyes, and ear infections, among other things. Similarly, Holy Basil is used locally as a remedy for diseases such as colds, coughs, malaria, asthma, genitourinary infections, stomach acidity, diabetes, and influenza. This potency could be attributed to the abundance of phytochemicals in the plants, such as eugenol, linalool, and 1, 8-cineole. Experimental evidence has shown that the phytonutrients found primarily in their EOs have antimicrobial activity against many bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoans. This study discusses the multi-targeted approach of these compounds in eliminating microorganisms by distorting their cellular architecture, which leads to membrane permeability disruption, denaturation of key proteins for survival, damage to the microbial DNA and replication machinery, and ultimately cell lysis and organism death. Their antimicrobial pharmacology invariably positions them as a new, effective, and safer Phyto antimicrobial agent to reduce morbidity and mortality due to microbial resistance.