What Is Basil? What are the Benefits?

by Abbas Jahangir · Published July 17, 2021 · Updated July 17, 2021

If basil herb is always at hand, it will be more comfortable for you to add flavor to your meals and let your creativity speak in the kitchen. Basil, which you can add to your pasta, chicken, fish, meat or vegetable dishes, as well as basil, which you can consume raw in salads, adds freshness to your meals and whets your appetite.

Contents

What Is Basil?
What are the Benefits of Basil?
How to Care for Basil?
How to Propagate Basil?
What are Basil Price Ranges?
Is Basil Suitable for Dieting?
Basil Scented Recipes

What Is Basil?

What does basil mean? Those who wonder, when they look at the dictionary, see that this plant is an annual and herbaceous ornamental plant from the honeydew family, grown in Mediterranean countries, with fragrant leaves and white or pink flowers.

Basil is also known by its other name, basil, especially in Anatolia. As it can be understood from the song “Reyhan, the daughter of mountains”, this fragrant plant is also used as a special name. In some sources, it is said that basil and basil are not the same plant, but basil is a plant among the basil varieties. Basil and basil are both from the Lamiaceae (ballibabagiller) family, the genus Ocimum; there is little difference between the two and they are used interchangeably.

Basil comes out once a year in temperate regions. It is estimated that the homeland of this plant is South Asia. Today, basil grows in the regions located in the Mediterranean basin, while in Turkey, the most suitable conditions for its cultivation are found in the Aegean and Mediterranean Regions. Well, do you think basil blooms? Yes, indeed, basil is a flowering plant. Basil flower blooms in white, pink and yellowish white tones in summer and autumn and carries its own seeds inside.

What are the Benefits of Basil?

Basil is among the plants that are highlighted with its benefits and recommended for use thanks to its properties in various fields. Basil leaves are shown among the beneficial plants in various sources, and the generally known benefits of basil are listed below. In the meantime, we urge those who have serious conditions related to the following to consult their doctor in advance:

Basil regulates your intestinal and digestive system; Since it helps to relieve bloating, stomach cramps and digestive problems, it is used to eliminate problems in these organs.
It is known as phlegm, gas and diuretic.
It is good for headaches and spasms.
It is protective against bacteria.
It gives energy and is thought to help lower blood sugar. It is also appetizing.
It is a calming herb.
Basil tea made from the leaves is used as a good solution in the summer heat. However, there are warnings in various sources that cancer patients and pregnant women should not consume basil tea. In addition, excessive use of basil tea may cause some health problems, as it dilutes the blood.

Basil Tea

Basil has antioxidant properties. In addition, it contains vitamin K, iron and calcium.
In addition to all these, it is known that basil grown in pots has fly repellent properties. On the other hand, it is stated in some sources that when the leaves are squeezed and the juice is removed, this juice is good for fly and insect bites, but in these cases, we recommend that you consult your doctor before applying anything to your skin.

How to Care for Basil?

Basil gets its fragrance, beauty and aroma from the sun and heat, so it is a sun-loving herb. However, it is necessary to protect the plant from the midday sun. We recommend that you take care to keep the basil you grow in the house in a place where it will be ventilated, such as near a window, because basil loves the wind and cannot live in stuffy places.

Basil can be grown comfortably in a medium fertile soil without the aid of fertilizers or additional nutrients. However, if your soil is sandy, you can add plant rot beforehand. Your basil will grow in any type of soil, but fertilizers added to sandy soil will help to make it grow better.

There is no need for a special regime for watering basil, but it is better if you forget about watering completely and avoid leaving the soil dry. If your basil suffers from water shortage, this time its leaves will start to wilt and its development will be adversely affected.

How to Propagate Basil?

Basils were created to enter the dying process after flowering. But you don’t have to worry about it, because there are ways you can multiply your basil before it dies.

The first of these methods is steeling. Cutting is applied by cutting any branch of basil and planting the cut branch into the soil. In this method, the part of the branch that will remain under the soil should be leafless. If there are leaves on the branch, you can take the scissors in your hand and cut the leaves from the roots to remove the leaves precisely; this way you will prevent the branch from being damaged. If you do the cutting process in the fall, if the branches you plant receive enough sun, heat and air, you will have basil seedlings ready to plant in your garden in the first spring. It is very beneficial for the branches to see the morning and evening sun, but they must be protected from the midday sun. In the meantime, we recommend that you pay attention to the soil you buy for the cutting process, because the soils sold in bags are not suitable for this work. For cutting, real soil or perlite sandy soil mixture should be used.
Of course, you can also propagate basil by seed. Basil will bloom profusely in the summer and fall. You can store the seeds of these flowers until spring, or you can pour them into the soil where they are. Spilled seeds germinate when spring comes. If you have stored the seeds, plant them in the spring, after the cool days have passed. As the weather warms up, your seeds will germinate. Remember that they will need plenty of air after germination.

What are Basil Price Ranges?

Basil is sold in florists, markets and even online stores. The price of ball basil with small leaves varies between 5 TL and 10 TL depending on the size of the pot and plant. But the basils used in the main dishes are between 30 TL and 50 TL in pots. If you don’t want to grow basil at home, you can buy a bunch of basil from the market, greengrocer or market for 2-3 TL. Especially if you want to buy prepared and packaged basil leaves, they are also around 5 TL.

Of course, it is possible to buy basil seeds and grow basil in your garden or balcony. In this case, it seems possible to buy a package of 250 seeds between 10 – 15 TL.

Is Basil Suitable for Dieting?

You may be wondering if basil can be used while dieting. Our answer to this question would be yes. This fragrant and deliciously aromatic plant is recommended to be used in stress-related weight gain, especially since it reduces stress.

Basil tea can be included in a diet list of healthy foods. Basil, which has digestive system executing properties and helps to burn fat by removing toxins from the body with its antioxidant properties, can be used as a plant to be supported in diets. If you follow a proper nutrition and sports program for slimming purposes, basil tea will help you lose weight, but it is not possible to lose weight by only eating basil and drinking basil tea in an unhealthy diet.

Basil tea is prepared by pouring boiling water on fresh leaves, the leaves are infused for 10-15 minutes. If you don’t have fresh basil, you can also use dried basil to make tea.

How to Dry Basil? If you do not know how to dry basil, you can start by washing the basil and evaporating the water on it in the sun. Then leave the basils to dry on a cloth in the shade and in a warm environment. Basil dried in the shade will retain their green color. Then, you can grind the basil that has dried in a cloth or cheesecloth to make it ready to be used in powder form.

Basil Scented Recipes

1) Basil Tomato Sauce with Refreshing Basil Flavor and Tomato Flavor

Basil, which is a crown jewel in Mediterranean cuisine, is also used in Far Eastern and Indian cuisines. Tomato sauce with basil is the first of the basil recipes specific to the Mediterranean cuisine that you can easily prepare. After preparing the basil tomato sauce and storing it in jars, you can easily use this sauce in your meat and vegetable dishes as well as your pasta. You can even spread basil tomato sauce on bread for breakfast.

2) Pasta with Basil, whose flavor is carried to higher dimensions when combined with basil

One of the dishes in which basil is used the most is undoubtedly pasta. When used in pasta with basil tomatoes, cream and cream mushrooms, it almost completes these dishes. Delicious pasta with cream and basil is an amazing recipe that you can prepare quickly. The flavor of the pasta, which is delicious even with cream alone, will be multiplied thanks to the combination of the sweet aroma of basil.