| Abstract: | Sweet basil is one of the most widespread spices in the world. Its dried leaves are used commonly as a flavouring in many food products [1]. A number of different types of basil oil have found and achieved economic importance. European basil oil contains approximately equal proportions of estragole (methyl chavicol) and linalool. Exotic or Reunion basil is an oil rich in methyl chavicol. Methyl cinnamate basil is, as its name suggests, an oil rich in methyl cinnamate. And finally, eugenol basil oil contains eugenol in high percentages [2]. Basil is a spice plant cultivated in some parts of Turkey, and used in soups, desserts, pickles etc. as a flavouring agent. However, no studies have been conducted 90 far on Turkish plant and volatile oil. Therefore, the object of this work was to study the volatile oil composition of Turkish sweet basil cultivated in Erzurum region (East Turkey) having cold climate conditions. |
