Botanical Name: Ocimum Sanctum

Origin: India

Holy Basil Essential Oil is produced by steam distillation of the fragrant leaves and the colour is golden yellow. It is said to reduce cortisol levels in the body (although I need to find the source to verify this), cortisol is a stress hormone, so if true it could be considered highly useful in massage to reduce those suffering with stress and anxiety. It is more commonly used in massage to treat digestive upsets.

GC/MS Data %
alpha-pinene 0.15, 1,8-cineole 0.56, vetiverol 0.19, methyl chavicol 0.47, citronellol 0.21, neral 2.30, beta-pinene 1.03, geranial 3.09, eugenol 52.62, alpha copaene 0.67, delta-3-carene 0.36, trans caryophyllene 0.49, alpha-guaiene 0.37, beta caryophyllene 33.71, alpha humulene 1.25, gamma cadinene 0.23, delta cadinene 0.55, elemol 1.07.

Looking at the chemistry you can see it contains a very high percentage of Eugenol so please dilute very well in carrier oil prior to use. Also this data is further proof of the importance of checking botanical names as Exotic Basil is wrongly sold by certain UK traders as Holy Basil, however they are not only different species of the Ocimum family but vastly differ chemically speaking – my batch of Exotic Basil contains 72.39% methyl chavicol and as you can see Holy Basil contains 0.47% (less than halve of 1 percent).