Affiliation:
1. University of Bonn, Germany
2. University of North Bengal, India
Abstract
Environment-derived products such as secondary metabolites from plants and animals also provide a humongous chemical space for potential candidates for drug discovery. It is a known fact that over 80% of the approved drugs have either been derived or are directly used in natural products. Ocimum sanctum L. or holy basil has been considered a majestic reservoir for medically potential phytochemicals and tremendous therapeutic applications. Basil was the most widely used medicinal plant in ancient civilizations in Africa, Central and South America, and Middle Eastern countries of Asia such as India, China, and Malaysia. Different parts of basil, such as leaves, stems, and roots, have shown various therapeutic activities. Phytochemicals derived from holy basil can be classified as terpenoid, flavonoid, phenolic acid, neolignan, phenylpropanoid, cerebroside, and coumarin. Bioinformatic and cheminformatic approaches such as target fishing and identification, pharmacophore-based modelling, and QSAR can be used to identify the potential targets.