Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum), of the Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family. Aromatic annual herb with square stems and glossy ovate leaves; native range: Tropical Asia and Africa; carried west along the spice roads and long naturalised in Mediterranean gardens. Globally recognized as barbari / munjariki in Sanskrit, babui tulsi / sabza in Hindi, luo le (罗勒) in Chinese, raihan (ريحان) in Arabic, and common basil · garden basil · sabza in English. The part used is leaf and flowering top; seed (sabza). Bright green leaves that bruise easily, releasing a warm sweet-clove scent with a peppery, faintly aniseed edge; the tiny black seeds swell to a jelly in water.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
SWEET BASIL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Sweet basil
- Scientific name
- Ocimum basilicum L.
- Family
- Lamiaceae (Labiatae)
Form
- Part used
- leaf and flowering top; seed (sabza)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
- Western
- pungent · aromatic
- Unani
- pungent · aromatic
Temperature
TCM: warm
Ayurveda: heating (ushna)
Western: warm
Unani: hot & dry (2nd degree)
convergence: all {witness_count} witnesses agree it is a warming, drying aromatic
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Spleen · Stomach · Large Intestine
- Western
- digestion · nerves · lungs
- Unani
- brain · stomach · heart
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- releases the exterior, disperses cold, moves qi and harmonises the middle, transforms dampness
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles digestion), kapha-vata-hara, hridya (cardiac), and a nervine that clears the head
- Western
- carminative, nervine, antispasmodic, diaphoretic, galactagogue
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-dimagh (brain tonic), mufarreh (exhilarant), kaasir-e-riyah (carminative), mudir-e-baul (diuretic)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- high pitta and heat states; large medicinal doses in pregnancy
- Toxicity
- the concentrated essential oil (rich in estragole/methyl chavicol) is irritant and not for internal use in quantity or prolonged course
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