ajeka :

Ocimum gratissimum, also known as clove basil, African basil, and in Hawaii as wild basil, is a species of Ocimum. It is native to Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia, and the Bismarck Archipelago, and naturalized in Polynesia, Hawaii, Mexico, Panama, West Indies, Brazil, and Bolivia

Taxonomical Classification

Family: Labiatae

VERNACULAR NAMES

English: shrubby basil
Malayalam: Kattutulasi
Sinhalese: Maduruthala

Synonyms

Synonyms in Ayurveda: vantulasi

Cultivation:

Prefers a rich, light, well-drained to dry soil and a position in full sun.
The optimum harvesting time for distillation of the essential oil is when 3 branches per plant, or 75% of the branches, are flowering. In northern Vietnam 2 - 3 cuts can be obtained in an average year, 4 - 5 cuts per year in the south. In Vietnam, Ocimum gratissimum remains productive for 5 - 10 years.
In India, yields of 70 - 75 tonnes per hectare green herbage, producing 400 litres of essential oil in 2 years have been obtained experimentally.
In Thailand harvesting every 10 - 12 days resulted in an annual green herbage yield of only 13 tonnes per hectare, and an oil yield of nearly 200 litres[

Propogation:

Seed - germination rates can be less than 10%. Sow in a nursery seedbed and only just cover the seed. Germination is usually free and quick, prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant out when large enough.
Cuttings take about 28 days to root

Harvesting:

In Thailand harvesting every 10 - 12 days resulted in an annual green herbage yield of only 13 tonnes per hectare, and an oil yield of nearly 200 litres

Geographical distribution:

Tropical Africa; E. Asia - India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia.

ECOLOGICAL ASPECT:

Along lake shores, in savannah vegetation, in submontane forest, and disturbed land; at elevations from sea level to 2,382 metres in west Africa[

Therapeutic Uses:

Clove basil is an aromatic, stimulant, antispasmodic, antiseptic herb that repels insects, expels internal parasites and lowers fevers
The leaves and stems are used internally in the treatment of colds, especially chest colds; fevers, headaches, impotence, flatulence, diarrhoea, dysentery, post-partum problems, and worms in children
Applied externally, the leaves are used to treat rheumatism and lumbago

An essential oil obtained from the leaf has shown marked antibacterial activity

CONCLUSION:

Ocimum gratissimum is a variable, polymorphic species with many forms. It has at times been treated as a number of distinct species, in particular Ocimum suave Willd., and Ocimum viride Willd., have been recognised as distinct in many treatments. However, it is difficult to define clear differences between these three species because variations between them form a continuum merging from one to another. All three are treated here as part of the one complex species Ocimum gratissimum

KEY WORDS: ajeka Ocimum gratissimum Linn., Ocimum frutescens