It is concluded from the present study that, ethanolic extracts from Ocimum species were shown for the first time to display in vitro antiplasmodial activity and warranted further investigation as potential sources of antiplasmodial agents.
Additional in vitro and in vivo work aimed at understanding the mechanisms of action of the active plant species and isolating and characterising the bioactive constituents is underway in our laboratories and will be reported on in due course.
Conflict of interest statement We declare that we have no conflict of interest. Acknowledgments The authors are thankful to the authorities of Alagappa University for providing required facilities and also to Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi for financial assistance for doing Ph.D degree (Samuel Jacob Inbaneson).
The authors are also grateful to Prof. Dr. Hemalatha Balaraman, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore for providing us the parasite.