Antioxidant Properties of Ocimum

The use of plant extracts and phytochemicals derived from medicinal plants are extensively used in pharmaceutical purposes. In recent years, there has been growing scientific evidence that many of the observed pharmacological activities of plant extracts such as anticancer, anti-diabetic and antiviral are all directly linked to their antioxidant activity. An interaction between traditional medicine and modern biotechnological tools is to be established towards. The genus Ocimum of the family is Lamiaceae (Labiatae) commonly known as the basil is a group of approximately 150 aromatic plants found mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Ocimum has been widely used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for its various medicinal properties such as anticancer, antistress, hypoglycemic, hepato- protective and its antifungal activities. Ocimum is commonly used in culinary as spice for flavoring the food stuffs, in aroma therapy and in perfume industry because of its fragrance due to its essential oils. In this study the antioxidant properties of two commonly used species of Ocimum are explored in relation to its hepatoprotective effect on ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity.

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My area of specialization is animal physiology, and my research work is mostly in checking the antioxidant activities of medicinal plants. My projects are on isolation and characterisation of phytochemicals and active compounds of the medicinal plants which are indigenous to Southern Africa in controlling diabetes, cancer and hepatotoxicity.