Illustrated pharmacognostic standardization of Ocimum kilimandscharicum

Ocimum kilimandscharicum often called as Kapoor Tulsi, is a small perennial plant, native to Kilimandscharo hills of Africa. It is being commercialized across the globe due to the presence of camphor as the major ingredient of the essential oil present in leaves. Traditionally, it is being utilized for the protection against mosquitoes and insect. The present research is an attempt to collectively represent morphology, microscopy, physical and phytochemical parameters. The article includes the detailed and illustrated morphology of leaf and flower parts. The microscopic characteristics like transverse section, powder microscopy described the diagnostic characteristics which have not been explored so far. Moreover, the physical evaluation parameters includes the loss on drying, pH, total ash, acid insoluble ash, sulphated ash, water soluble ash and extractive values in different solvents like petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and water. The non volatile components are found to be rich in flavonoids, tannins, carbohydrates, glycoside, terpenoid and alkaloid. The total of 26 components were identified constituting 98.76% of the volatile oil comprises 84.05% oxygenated monoterpenes 10.26% monoterpene hydrocarbon 4.15% sesquiterpene hydrocarbon and 0.28% oxygenated sesquiterpenes. The fingerprinting profile via HPTLC of the ethanolic extract determined 17 components at 366 nm after derivatization showing different color bands will surely help in the establishing the standard validation parameters.