Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) – a myriad medicinal plant, secrets behind the innumerable benefits

Abstract

Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) is an omnipresent, multipurpose plant and regarded as holy plant in Hindu religion finds place in front of every Hindu household. This herb is a member of Lamiaceae family, well known for its spiritual, religious and medicinal importance in India. Scientific investigations of traditional belief of medicinal properties of Tulsi have got impetus mostly in the later part of the 20th century. Characteristically, the plant imparts a pungent, bitter, hot, light and dry effect indicating the presence of curative value. It is extensively famous and has been used since centuries in Ayurvedic and Greek medicines owing to its beneficially diverse properties. The scientific fact behind these benefits owe to the presence of phytochemicals in leaves like flavonoids, phenol, terpenoids, alkaloids, eugenol and others which impart ability to overcome the infection by the target cells. The ability can be antimicrobial, pharmacological, any therapeutic, nutritional value or even leveraging of certain levels of phytochemicals thus bringing about the cellular protection. This review is an attempt to present brief information available on the religious values, studies on physiological aspects, antimicrobial properties, pharmacological application, therapeutic uses, phytochemical analysis, animal nutrition supplement and biotechnological studies comprising molecular marker usage, genome sequencing, bioinformatics and nanotechnological studies in Tulsi.