Medical and Human Health Applications

*Phytochemicals in Human Health*

cbic.201800599

10.1021/bc300410p

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**Chapter 9**

**Abstract**

**1. Introduction**

*Ocimum* Phytochemicals and Their

Potential Impact on Human Health

The genus *Ocimum* (Lamiaceae) is distributed all over the world and can be found in many environments. *Ocimum* species is a rich source of various phytochemicals including tannins, phenolic acids, anthocyanins, phytosterols, and policosanols. These phytochemicals have the potential to significantly impact human health. The economic importance of *Ocimum* is also evident; *Ocimum* oil and its constituents and derivatives are used as flavoring agents throughout the world in food, pharmaceutical, herbal, perfumery, and flavoring industry. The important advantages of *Ocimum* plants in various treatments are their safety besides being less expensive, efficacy and availability throughout the world. This paper will focus on the biological effects of *Ocimum* essential oils, with particular attention on the

Living plants produce a vast quantity of chemicals required for their performance and improvement. Some of these chemicals are primary metabolites, which consist of proteins (amino acids), carbohydrates, fats, nucleic acids, etc. but, besides these primary chemicals, the plants further provide just so-called secondary metabolites, which are specific to some taxonomic groups (families, genera). About 80% of the world's population still depends on the traditional system of medicine for curing several health hazards [1]. Despite the vast scientific development in contemporary medicine, Ayurvedic system of medicine is widely practiced and accepted by people not only in India but also in many developed countries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 80% of patients in India still, rely on the practitioners of the traditional system of medicines. The therapeutic use of herbal crude medicines in different rural and urban communities is most of the time regulated by their traditional beliefs, and thus a majority of the herbal drugs are used as "folk" medicines and well practiced since long past. Furthermore, increasing dependency on medicinal plants in the industrialized communities have been found to the extraction and improvement of several remedies and chemotherapeutics from these plants and from traditionally established rural herbal remedies [2]. In these communities, herbal remedies become deeply engaged in the practice of minor conditions and again on the explanation of the increasing costs of specific health maintenance. Although synthetic drugs enhanced the

*Debjoy Bhattacharjya, Sinchan Adhikari, Arijit Biswas,* 

*Anil Bhuimali, Parthadeb Ghosh and Soumen Saha*

**Keywords:** *Ocimum* sp., essential oil, composition, biological activity

molecular mechanism underlying their action.
