In Vitro Antibacterial Activities of Basil Species: Ocimum sanctum, Ocimum tenuiflorum, and Ocimum basilicum

Medicinal plants have been studied for a viable alternative to expensive medicines to prevent common health problems. Numerous pharmaceutical companies are exploring more applications of it. Most plants have bioactive molecules that inhibiting bacterial or fungal growth (antibiotic activity) as their survival biodefense mechanism (A Bisele et al). In the past, our research group studied, antimicrobial activity using the different medicinal plant extract. For this study, we chose eight different basil plant, (Tulsi basil tea, Tulsi-Holy basil, sweet basil, Thai basil, commercial basil, sweet basil leaf). Dried plant material was extracted to tested their antimicrobial activities against the Escherichia coli (E Coli) (bacillus). Based on the result from gas chromatography and thin layer chromatography, the active medicinal compounds in these basil species are Estragole, Linalool, Methyl-eugenol. The study of the basil family helps to determine the effectiveness of basil to prevent bacterial diseases. Comparing the activities of various species of the same basil family (Lamiaceae) provided us with an interesting result on antimicrobial activity. This study focused on the comparison of antimicrobial activities of basil species on E.coli bacteria to determine the interspecies variation in vitro antimicrobial activity