Leaves are commonly used for making teas and infusions but
other plant parts such as stems and flowers also contain active principals
and could also be utilised. The aroma profiles of the herbal
infusions extracted from different parts of lemon basil (leaves (L),
aerial branch (B) and the flower (F)) were evaluated. The volatile
composition, from analyses carried out using the DB5-type column,
is presented in the Table 2. Oxygenated compounds were the most
abundant volatiles in the infusion of lemon basil obtained from different
parts of the plant. The quantities of these volatiles were
much higher in the flowers and the aerial branches than in the leafy
parts. The percentage composition of citral (neral and geranial) for
both leaves and flowers were 64.5% and 58% for the branches. Linalool
was much higher in flowers representing 13% of the total volatile
composition, followed by 11% in branches and 3% in leaves.