Abstract: OBJECTIVE:To collect and screen for ethnopharmacological properties(antileishmanial,antibacterial and brine lethality assays) of medicinal plant Ocimum basilicum from Peshawar region(34.008 latitude and 71.57 altitudes).METHODS:In the present study a general antileishmanial activity against Leishmania tropica strain was carried out.The antibacterial potential of the plant was performed against 06 gram positive and 06 gram negative bacteria.Brine shrimp cytotoxicity assay at different concentrations were investigated.RESULTS:The anti-promastigotes profile of the plant showed good antileishmanial activity exhibited LC_(50) value 21.67 μg/mL.The result for gram positive antibacterial activity revealed that the O.basilicum leaves extract possesses significant inhibitory activity at highest two concentrations ranging from20.66 ± 0.31 to 31.86 ± 0.80 for Clostridium perfringens type C and Bacillus subtitilis,respectively,as compared to the gentamycin(27.36 ± 0.55 and21.80 ± 0.72,respectively).For gram negative bacteria good activity was observed.A highest zone of inhibition was recorded for Pseudomonas aeroginosa(28.83 ± 0.28) atthe highest concentration(10 mg/mL).The LC_(50) value obtained for brine shrimp lethality assay was 91.56 μg/mL.CONCLUSION:The herb basil possesses effective cidal activities which make this plant a good candidate for the isolation of antiprotozoal and antibacterial compounds which may lead to the development of novel drug.

Key words: Ocimum basilicum, Cytotoxicity tests,immunologic, Anti-bacterial agents, Antileishmanial activity