ABSTRACT:
Herbal medicine is one of the most remarkable uses of plant based biodiversity. Medicinal plant plays a key role in world healthcare system. Ethno botanical information from India estimates that more than 6000 higher plant species forming about 40 % of the higher plant diversity are used in its codified and folk healthcare traditions. Ocimum is a genus of about 35 species of aromatic annual and perennial herbs and shrubs in the family Lamiaceae, mostly native to the tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World. The main chemical constituents are Oleanolic acid, Ursolic acid, Rosmarinic acid, Eugenol, Carvacrol, Linalool, and B-caryophyllene, has been used extensively for many years as therapeutic agent. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the qualitative estimation of phytochemicals of aqueous, ethanol and methanol extracts of root, stem and leaves of Ocimum sanctum L. The preliminary phytochemical screening with the various qualitative chemical tests revealed the presence of 09 phytoconstituents; steroids, flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, phenols, total sugars, reducing sugars, total soluble protein and TCA precipitated protein from different solvent extracts suggested antimicrobial properties that can be used in new drugs for the therapy of various infectious diseases. Phytochemical study of Ocimum sanctum L. is also useful to isolate the pharmacologically active principles present in the drug.