Botanical species · safety record

Ocimum basilicum

The EFSA Compendium of Botanicals holds 17 constituent measurements and 2 adverse-effect records for Ocimum basilicum. This page reports what those source records contain and how to reach them. It carries no effect estimate, no dose and no recommendation.

Accepted name in source: Ocimum basilicum L.

17Constituent measurements

2Safety records

7Cited sources

112Licensed products (Canada)

Regulatory presence

Health Canada's Licensed Natural Health Products Database holds 112 licensed products naming Ocimum basilicum as a medicinal ingredient, matched on the exact Latin binomial. A licence records that a product met the regulator's requirements for sale in Canada. It is not evidence that the product works.

Extract types on licence

Source material stated

Aerial parts
Herb
Herb extract
Herb top
Herb top flowering
Leaf
Leaves and flowering tops
Leaves and flowers

What the records describe

Constituents measured

Plant parts

Preparations

Effect types

Recorded constituents

What analytical work has found in this species, at which plant part and preparation. A measured constituent is a fact about material, not about effect.

Substance	Plant part	Preparation	Concentration	Analytical method	Source
1,8-cineole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	16.7 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
1,8-cineole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	3.74 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Camphor	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	1.2 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 16.5 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	—	≤ 16.05 Milligram/kilogram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 8.1 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	—	≥ 10.21 Milligram/kilogram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Eugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	2.5 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Eugenol	Aerial part of plants	—	≤ 0.75 Milligram/kilogram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Eugenol	Aerial part of plants	—	≥ 0.49 Milligram/kilogram	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Eugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	10.3 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≤ 1.6 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Methyleugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	≥ 0.5 Percent	GC-MS	Resolve DOI
Alpha-selinene	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	1.67 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Beta-selinene	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	1.04 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Estragole	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	2.4 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier
Eugenol	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil	1.4 Percent	GC-MS	No resolvable identifier

Recorded adverse effects

Adverse effects reported in the source literature, most often in animal or laboratory models at a stated preparation and dose.

Effect	Target tissue	Plant part	Preparation	Test organism	Test type	Source
Other toxicities	—	Leaves	Essential oil (as part-nature)	House mouse (as animal)	Acute toxicity	Resolve DOI
Other toxicities	—	Aerial part of plants	Essential oil (as part-nature)	House mouse (as animal)	Acute toxicity	No resolvable identifier

Cited sources

The literature the compendium cites for this species. Metatron Health has no relationship with these authors or journals and earns nothing from citing them.

Tateo, F., Santamaria, L., Bianchi, L., Bianchi, A. Basil oil and tarragon oil: Composition and genotoxicity evaluation. Journal of essential oil research, 1989, vol. 1, no. 3, p. 111-118. DOI
Siano, F., Ghizzoni, C., Gionfriddo, F., Colombo, E., Servillo, L., Castaldo, D. Determination of estragole, safrole and eugenol methyl ether in food products. Food chemistry, 2003, vol. 81, no. 3, p. 469-475. DOI
Stajkovic, Olivera., Beric-Bjedov, Tanja., Mitic-Culafic, Dragana., Stankovic, Slavisa., Vukovic-Gacic, Branka., Simic, Draga., Knezevic-Vukcevic, Jelena. Antimutagenic properties of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) in Salmonella typhimurium TA100. Food technology and biotechnology, 2007, vol. 45, no. 2, p. 213-217.
Eliopoulos, P. A., Hassiotis, C. N., Andreadis, S. S., Porichi, A. -E. E. Fumigant Toxicity of Essential Oils from Basil and Spearmint Against Two Major Pyralid Pests of Stored Products. Journal of economic entomology, 2015, vol. 108, no. 2, p. 805-810. DOI
Venancio, Antonio Medeiros., Casimiro Onofre, Alexandre Sherlley., Lira, Amintas Figueiredo., Alves, Pericles Barreto., Blank, Arie Fitzgerald., Antoniolli, Angelo Roberto., Marchioro, Murilo., Estevam, Charles dos Santos., de Araujo, Brancilene Santos. Chemical Composition, Acute Toxicity, and Antinociceptive Activity of the Essential Oil of a Plant Breeding Cultivar of Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.). Planta medica, 2011, vol. 77, no. 8, p. 825-829. DOI
Parra, AL., Yhebra, RS., Sardinas, IG., Buela, LI. Comparative study of the assay of Artemia salina L. and the estimate of the medium lethal dose (LD50 value) in mice, to determine oral acute toxicity of plant extracts. PHYTOMEDICINE, 2001, vol. 8, no. 5, p. 395-400.
Nascimento de Araujo, Alice Maria., D'Antonino Faroni, Leda Rita., de Oliveira, Jose Vargas., do Amaral Ferraz Navarro, Daniela Maria., Rafael e Silva Barbosa, Douglas., Breda, Mariana Oliveira., de Franca, Solange Maria. Lethal and sublethal responses of Sitophilus zeamais populations to essential oils. Journal of pest science, 2017, vol. 90, no. 2, p. 589-600. DOI

Boundary

A constituent measurement is a fact about material at a stated preparation, not a statement about what that material does in a person. An adverse-effect or genotoxicity record is an observation reported in a source, most often in an animal or laboratory model. Neither is a Metatron Health conclusion about causality, human risk or benefit, and the absence of a record is not proof that a preparation is safe. Nothing here is diagnosis, prescribing or individual medical care.

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Independent literature