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THE MANY USES
OF BASIL
By Dr. Leonard Perry, Extension Professor Aileen King, Student Intern
University of Vermont
Basil is a well-known
culinary herb that's popular in many Italian dishes. But did you know
that there are many other uses of this herb, including its use as a
tonic to aid in digestion?
The most common
use of basil is for cooking, such as in tomato sauce, pesto, or vinegars.
But it also can be sprinkled over salads and sliced tomatoes, either
whole or chopped. Actually, donŐt chop the leaves, but tear them instead
for the most flavor.
To make oil for
salads, pound the fresh leaves and mix with a good salad or vegetable
oil. If freezing the leaves, coat them with olive oil first. Leaves
also can be dried and stored in salt.
In the landscape,
donŐt merely relegate basil to the herb or vegetable garden. Consider
planting it in scented gardens, or use it as edging along a bed or path
that you'll brush past and release the aroma. Or try mass plantings
of basil in a border, plant in decorative outdoor containers, or grow
in pots indoors, if you have lots of light. In ancient times, pots of
basil on the windowsill were used to deter flies.
Other uses of basil
include the cosmetic. Put fresh leaves in a hot bath as an infusion,
for example. As a tonic, steep a few leaves in wine for several hours.
Or steep in water as a tea to aid digestion. A drop of basil oil on
shirtsleeves will help counteract mental fatigue.
Common Basil, also
referred to as Sweet Basil, grows at a moderate rate. Depending on which
of the many cultivars you grow, plants can be either upright or mounded.
'Green Globe' is a compact mound, only about a foot high, and great
for edging. The foliage is green to purple, again depending on cultivar,
and distinctly aromatic.
'Purple Ruffles'
is a popular cultivar with both purple foliage and ruffled edges to
the leaves. The flowers are terminal, spike-like racemes that are usually
purple or white.
Basil can be propagated
from seed. Sow seeds eight to ten weeks before planting outside in a
well-drained soil. Or sow directly in the garden. Your site should have
rich, well-drained soil with plenty of sunlight for several hours a
day.
Throughout the season,
remove flower spikes to promote increased growth and branching. Pruning
the plants every two to three weeks also will promote growth. Basil
does not tolerate frost well, so if you want to overwinter, take stem
cuttings late in the season. Thinking about growing basil? Then try
one of these five main species of basil:
• Lemon Basil (Ocimum americanum) has a bushy habit, grows
to two feet tall, and has an intense lemony fragrance.
• Camphor Basil (Ocimum kilmandscharicum) is an annual shrub
reaching about five feet tall in a season. It becomes woody with camphor-scented
leaves that can be used in sachets to protect woolens and as a tea for
stomach aches
• Tree Basil (Ocimum grattissimum) is similar to Camphor
Basil and has fuzzy, lime-green leaves scented like pennyroyal. A tea
of its leaves is used for colds and fevers, the leaves are burned to
repel mosquitoes, and the thymol content of one cultivar makes this
useful for wounds, gargling, and conjunctivitis.
• Holy Basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum or sanctum) is an annual
shrub with spicy clove-like scented leaves that reaches two feet in
height. It is the sacred basil of the Hindus, who use it in both cooking
and medicines.
• Bush Basil (Ocimum basilicum)--also known as Sweet or
Common Basil--is native to the Old World Tropics (India, Africa, Asia).
In India it is believed to hold divine essence. In some Greek Orthodox
churches it is used to prepare holy water, as it was found growing around
Christ's tomb after the Resurrection. In Haiti, Bush Basil is associated
with a pagan love goddess named Erzulie, and in Mexico it is used in
potions to attract lovers.
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