Herbal plants have an important role as traditional medicines. Ocimum sanctum L. (Tulsi) is a fragrant herb belonging to the Lamiaceae family that has been proven to have immunomodulatory, immunostimulatory properties and antagonistic activity against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Secondary metabolite “Apigenin” (269.0 m/z), a flavonoid, present in this divine herb, was detected, and quantified by liquid chromatography-electron spray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis. The objective of this investigation was to synthesize O. sanctum leaf extract mediated zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs), assess its antimicrobial activity and corelate this activity with the secondary metabolites presents in this herbal extract. In this study, shade-dried leaves of O. sanctum, were used for initiation of the biosynthesis of ZnO NPs. The occurrence of ZnO in the NPs was proven by different analytical methods such as Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Using field emission-scanning electron microscope (FESEM), the average dimension of O. sanctum ZnO NPs ranged from 63.3 nm to 89.1 nm. Profound broad spectrum bactericidal activity was noted. This can be corelated to the occurrence of apigenin in the leaf extract and its ZnO NPs. O. sanctum is thus, the choice of many ayurvedic formulations.

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