Anti-diabetic potential of <em>Ocimum sanctum</em> Linn.

Abstract

Ocimum sanctum L., also known as Tulsi or the Holy Basil in Bangladesh and India. It is a vastly underutilized potential traditional medicinal plant. Its leaves and seed oil are used for treating many diseases, including coughs and colds. According to scientific evidence, it has a variety of traditional uses and can be used in oxidative stress, hypertension, cancers, neurological diseases and disorders, inflammation and inflammatory syndromes, and so on. These, this medicinal plant and its derivatives can be used in diabetes and metabolic syndromes. In this literature-based study, it has been seen that O. sanctum has promising anti-diabetic effects in various experimental models using mice, rats, rabbits etc. For its significant anti-diabetic effect, a tetracyclic triterpenoid known as 16-hydroxy-4, 4, 10, 13-tetramethyl-17-(4-methyl-pentyl)-hexadecahydro-cyclopenta[a]phenanthren-3-one has been introduced. More research is needed on its anti-diabetic effects.