Talk:Holy Basil

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[edit] Tulsi?

If this really is the same as Tulsi, then Tulsi and Holy Basil should be combined into one page. (I think they are the same, judging by various sources on the net.) Singkong2005 07:37, 13 October 2005 (UTC)

I think there is some confusion. Tulsi with purple stems is called Krishna Tulsi and green is called Rama Tulsi. So the intro should say Ram tulsi for holy basil but point to the Tulsi website. Also the image seems to be of Krishna tulsi (purple stems), which by the definition in this page is Thai basil not holy basil. I'm not sure myself, so clarification by anyone else will be appreciated. Otherwise I'll try to clear it myself. --Pranathi 03:23, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/v4-499.html Would vote for a merge. Shyamal 08:24, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Thai basil is a variety (sometimes given the botanical name horapa) of basil, Ocimum basilicum. This is correctly stated on the main Basil page. Holy basil (tulsi) is a different species, O. tenuiflorum L. (was O. sanctum L.). The Holy Basil and tulsi pages should indeed be merged, with misleading references to Thai basil deleted or reworded. Mark Nesbitt 12:36, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

ADDED I have looked further into the purple/green tulsi question raised by Pranathi (and the Tulsi page). The CSIR's Wealth of India (Vol VII, 1966, p. 88) notes:

At least two types of O. sanctum are met with in cultivation: the green type (Sri tulsi) is the most common; the second type (Krishna tulsi) bears purple leaves.

Knowing that both the purple and the green forms are tulsi, and knowing that Thai basil is a different species and nothing to do with tulsi/holy basil/O. tenuiflorum (syn. O. sanctum), then I propose the following:

1. Merge Tulsi and Holy Basil, with Tulsi as the main page, with redirects from Tulasi (common variant spelling) and Holy basil.

2. Leave the existing Tulsi page as it is, and delete the existing Holy basil text altogether because its text is either:

a. Misleading: The Indian holy basil, or Tulsi, is a different cultivar of the same species.

b. Unsourced: It has traditionally been used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, and some recent studies suggest that it may be a COX-2 inhibitor, like many modern painkillers today.

c. Difficult to verify: Tulsi, is a herb often used in Thai cusine. (Is tulsi really used in Thai cuisine? Wouldn't want to say so without a real expert opinion. Isn't it more likely that Thai basil is used in Thai cuisine?)

d. Problematic: the criteria for separating thai basil from holy basil, as we know at least one character (green stems) is present in both tulsi and thai basil. Rather than get into more confusion about thai vs holy basil, it might be better either not to mention thai basil (better on the Ocimum page, or to briefly mention the two are confused without going into how to details on separating them. Mark Nesbitt 12:23, 14 January 2006 (UTC)