Eden Apothecary · Herb Profile
Ocimum basilicum
Pronounced Sweet Basil: BAY-zuhl (also BAZ-uhl). Ocimum basilicum: OSS-ih-mum bah-ZIL-ih-kum.
Warm, dry, sweet-pungent aromatic: the kitchen carminative and gentle nervine that unknots a tense, gassy, cold-stomached gut, settles nausea, and eases nervous tension.
Culinary and food amounts are considered safe (basil is GRAS as a food; the online AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook classes the herb as safety Class 1, changed from Class 2d in AHPA's April 2022 online update: "AHPA updates eight entries to the online Botanical Safety Handbook 2nd Ed. in first 2022 release", https://www.ahpa.org/blog_home.asp?display=55). Avoid concentrated medicinal doses and the essential oil during pregnancy: basil oil is frequently high in estragole (methylchavicol), a genotoxic rodent carcinogen, and reproductive-toxicity, uterine-stimulant, emmenagogue, and abortifacient effects have been reported for the essential oil; Tisserand and Young advise avoiding basil oil (estragole chemotype) throughout pregnancy. Keep to food and normal tea amounts. Sources: Tisserand & Young, Essential Oil Safety (2nd ed., 2014); AHPA online Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed., April 2022 online update); Natural Medicines / Drugs.com (Sweet Basil).
Culinary and food amounts are considered safe and are traditionally used (basil has a folk reputation as a galactagogue). Avoid concentrated medicinal doses and the essential oil while nursing, as standard guidance restricts medicinal basil during lactation because of its estragole content. Keep to food and tea amounts. Sources: LactMed-aligned guidance (medicinal doses cautioned for estragole); AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed., 2013); Tisserand & Young, Essential Oil Safety (2nd ed.).
Culinary and tea amounts are safe and commonly enjoyed. Do not use the essential oil internally in children, and avoid it near the face of infants and toddlers (estragole content and general aromatic-oil caution). Reserve concentrated preparations for older children under guidance. Sources: AHPA Botanical Safety Handbook (2nd ed.); Tisserand & Young, Essential Oil Safety (2nd ed.).
The dried leaf, tea, and culinary herb are gentle and broadly safe. The concern is the concentrated ESSENTIAL OIL: many basil oils, especially the exotic (tropical / Reunion) chemotype, are rich in estragole (methylchavicol), a compound that is genotoxic and carcinogenic in rodents at high doses. Reserve the essential oil for dilute external aromatic use, prefer a low-estragole (European / linalool-type) oil, and do not take it internally. Emmenagogue and abortifacient effects have been reported for the essential oil. Culinary and normal tea amounts do not carry these concerns.
No absolute contraindications at culinary and normal tea amounts (AHPA safety Class 1, per AHPA's April 2022 online update: "AHPA updates eight entries to the online Botanical Safety Handbook 2nd Ed. in first 2022 release", https://www.ahpa.org/blog_home.asp?display=55). Avoid concentrated medicinal doses and the internal essential oil in pregnancy and lactation (estragole; see safety fields). Caution with the estragole-rich exotic essential oil in anyone, and with internal essential-oil use generally.
A fast-growing, easily cultivated annual and one of the most widely grown culinary herbs worldwide, so it is not at risk and does not appear on the United Plant Savers at-risk or to-watch lists. Home-grown or organically cultivated leaf is preferable for potency and to avoid pesticide residue on a herb usually eaten fresh.
Not named in the canonical biblical texts. The common name descends from the Greek basilikon (from basileus, king), the royal or kingly herb. In Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition basil is linked to the finding of the True Cross by St. Helena and is used to sprinkle holy water at the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. Native to tropical Asia and Africa and long naturalized around the Mediterranean. The sacred Hindu basil cherished in temple courtyards is properly Tulsi (Holy Basil, Ocimum tenuiflorum), a different species, though older herbals such as Grieve's conflate the two.
The same herb can calm one person and wire another. Our free assessment reads your pattern across temperature, moisture and tone, then matches herbs to it.
Teaching children at home? Eden's Table builds a full herbalism curriculum around plants like this one.
