Description.
Basil, or its other name, is a one-year-old plant of the labiate family. It has a strong spicy aromatic odor, a highly branched structure. The root is located on the surface of the earth and just as branched. Stems up to 60 cm high, tetrahedral. The leaves are large, 5 cm long, oblong, ovoid in shape, rough, with sparse teeth on their sides. The color of the leaves is violet-greenish, spotted. Flowers are located on the tops of stems in tassels, white, purple or pink, small. The fruit is four brown nuts separated after ripening.
Basil is grown in the south of Russia, in the Caucasus, in the middle zone: in greenhouses or on southern slopes, where it is warmer. Is a garden crop. The wild basil grows in Central America, Asia and Africa.
Collection of basil is carried out during the flowering period, preferably in dry hot weather. Then the collected grass is dried in a well-ventilated room at a temperature of no more than 35 ° C, away from direct sunlight. Basil gives two crops of grass per year. After drying, the color of the collection should be natural. The stems must be brittle, and the leaves and flowers can be well ground into powder. Store in a sealed container.
Another way of storing is salting. To do this, the grass needs to be rinsed well, cut into pieces, put in a glass sterile dish, pouring layers of grass with salt. Salt in a 1: 5 ratio, that is, five spoons of herbs per 1 spoonful of salt. When pickling, basil does not lose its properties.
Composition.
Chemically, basil is not fully understood. The stems and leaves of the plant contain essential oils, tannins, glycosides, saponins, a vitamin complex - vitamin C, carotene, rutin, a set of minerals, sugars, phytoncides. The fruits of basil, in addition to the already mentioned substances, contain vegetable fats in large quantities.
Almost all the medicinal qualities of the basil are determined by the essential oil of the plant. The oil contains eugenol (odoriferous substance), methylhaekol (carcinogen in large quantities, also fragrant), camphor (very good stimulator of the heart and breathing process), linalool (substance with the odor of the lily of the valley), and others.
Basil in cooking.
Thanks to a very pleasant spicy smell and unusual taste, basil is very widely used in cooking, food industry. In cooking, basil is added to seasonings, sauces, soups, to meat and fish dishes. Powder from dried leaves and basil stems is used in the preparation of various marinades, in beverages for spicy taste. In industrial volumes, basil is used for the production of various canned foods, sausages and meat products.
Very well used basil in combination with other herbs: thyme, rosemary, mint, parsley. The taste of these combinations is very diverse: pepper - mixed with rosemary, the sharpness is achieved by mixing basil with thyme.
Basil produces essential oil and camphor, which are widely used in the perfume, food and pharmaceutical industries.
Medical properties.
Basil has many medicinal properties: it relieves spasms of muscles, vessels; reduces gases in the intestine; promotes rapid healing of wounds due to disinfection and removal of inflammation, strengthens the body.
The source of a number of vitamins C, P, A is the basilica grass. These vitamins improve the condition of the skin, hair and nails, strengthen blood vessels and improve vision.
Basil is also valuable in that it contains camphor, which has the property to excite the oppressed centers of respiration and circulation. Also, camphor is used for recovery after severe illnesses and major surgeries.
In folk medicine, the properties of basil have found application in diseases of the digestive system, inflammation of the urinary tract, dysbiosis due to pronounced anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic effect.
Infusion of basil grass is also used externally - in the treatment of wounds, ulcers, for rinsing with diseases of the oral cavity. Very good effect has a basil grass on the skin, if you add it to the bath.
Method of cooking infusion of basil grass: you need to take one tablespoon of dried herb basil, pour boiling water (1 cup), insist for half an hour. Obtained infusion strain and consume 1/3 cup three times a day.