CHEMICAL FINGERPRINT AND PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES OF OCIMUM BASILICUM AND OCIMUM TENUIFLORUM

Abstract

The present study investigated the antidiabetic, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties, along with the chemical composition of Ocimum basilicum and Ocimum tenuiflorum leaves in different solvents. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using phenolic, flavonoid contents and DPPH free radical scavenging assays that revealed ethyl acetate as the most effective solvent with a DPPH scavenging rate of 60.07% and 77.84% respectively for both plants. Both basil species exhibited moderate antioxidant effects, with significant variations (P < 0.05) in flavonoid and phenolic contents. Antibacterial activity against S. aureus and E. coli was demonstrated using the agar well diffusion method, resulting in zones of 12 mm and 10 mm inhibition for S. aureus, and 14mm and 7mm for E. coli respectively for O. basilicum and O. tenuiflorum. Furthermore, aqueous extracts exhibited promising antidiabetic activity, with maximum percentages of 97.31% ± 0.03, 91.03% ± 0.01 glycation inhibitions and 51.13% ± 0.03, 55.13% ±0.03 alpha amylase inhibitions respectively. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography analysis identified quercetin and gallic acid as principal components, while Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy showed the presence of phenols, carboxylic acids, and amines groups. This comprehensive investigation underscores the potential pharmacological significance of these plants in the context of antioxidant, antibacterial and antidiabetic therapy.