Basil is an aromatic plant of great tradition in the Mediterranean area. Its economic importance is growing up determining an expansion of cultivation. This paper evaluated the morphological traits, the chemical profiles and antibacterial activity of 21 cultivars of basil belonging to “Genovese”, “Napoletano” and “Purple basil” types. The cultivars were characterized by different growth rate and morphological traits. The chemical composition of the oils analyzed by GC and GC-MS analysis, supported by the PCA analysis, underlined the strong influence of chemotype. It is noteworthy that estragole, never present in Genovese and purple basil types, occurs in Napoletano type. Anyway it was registered high presence of eugenol, methyl-eugenol and linalool in the majority of cultivars, belonging both to Genovese and Napoletano types. Of great interest resulted the composition of the purple basil “Opal”. All the samples tested exhibited similar antibiotic profiles whit moderate antibacterial activity. The results enhance the importance of determination of essential oil profile in the selection of cultivars characterized by diverse morphological traits and useful for different purposes.

Essential oil variability in a collection of Ocimum basilicum L. (basil) cultivars.

DE FALCO, Enrica;
2016-01-01

Abstract

Basil is an aromatic plant of great tradition in the Mediterranean area. Its economic importance is growing up determining an expansion of cultivation. This paper evaluated the morphological traits, the chemical profiles and antibacterial activity of 21 cultivars of basil belonging to “Genovese”, “Napoletano” and “Purple basil” types. The cultivars were characterized by different growth rate and morphological traits. The chemical composition of the oils analyzed by GC and GC-MS analysis, supported by the PCA analysis, underlined the strong influence of chemotype. It is noteworthy that estragole, never present in Genovese and purple basil types, occurs in Napoletano type. Anyway it was registered high presence of eugenol, methyl-eugenol and linalool in the majority of cultivars, belonging both to Genovese and Napoletano types. Of great interest resulted the composition of the purple basil “Opal”. All the samples tested exhibited similar antibiotic profiles whit moderate antibacterial activity. The results enhance the importance of determination of essential oil profile in the selection of cultivars characterized by diverse morphological traits and useful for different purposes.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11386/4685981
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