Dark opal basil

{{Short description|Basil cultivar}}

{{Infobox cultivar

| name = Ocimum basilicum 'Dark Opal'

| image = Dark opal basil.jpg

| image_caption = A bunch of dark opal basil leaves

| species = Ocimum basilicum var. purpureum

| cultivar = 'Dark Opal'

| origin = John Scarchuk and Joseph Lent, University of Connecticut, 1950s

}}

Dark opal basil is a cultivar of Ocimum basilicum (sweet basil), developed by John Scarchuk and Joseph Lent at the University of Connecticut{{cite web|url=http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/asc/collections/chronology/Chronology.cfm?StartDate=1962&EndDate=1962&Keywords=Ocimum+basilicum |title=A Chronology of the University of Connecticut - Search Results |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090443/http://doddcenter.uconn.edu/asc/collections/chronology/Chronology.cfm?StartDate=1962&EndDate=1962&Keywords=Ocimum+basilicum |archivedate=2014-08-19 }} in the 1950s. With deep purple, sometimes mottled leaves, it is grown as much for its decorative appeal as for its culinary value. Dark opal basil was a 1962 winner of the All-American Selection award.{{cite web | url = http://all-americaselections.org/winners/details.cfm?WinID=544 | title = Basil 'Dark Opal' 1962, AAS Flower Award Winner | access-date = 2014-08-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130907013947/http://www.all-americaselections.org/winners/details.cfm?WinID=544 | archive-date = 2013-09-07 | url-status = dead }}{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=idS5JjtHCKAC&dq=All-America+Selection+dark+opal&pg=PA218 | isbn = 978-0-88192-698-9 | title = Herbs in Bloom: A Guide to Growing Herbs as Ornamental Plants | author = Jo Ann Gardner | year = 2005 }}, page 218

Like other purple basils, the purple color is from anthocyanins, especially cyanidin-3-(di-p-coumarylglucoside)-5-glucoside but also other cyanidin based and peonidin based compounds. 'Dark opal', along with other large leaved purple cultivars such as 'Purple Ruffles', has a high concentration of anthocyanins and is considered a potential source of red pigments for the food industry. The anthocyanin concentration is about 18 mg per 100 g fresh leaves, similar to Perilla frutescens, and greater than smaller leaved purple basils such as 'Purple bush' (at about 6 mg per 100 g).{{aut|J. Janick (ed.), James E. Simon, Mario R. Morales, Winthrop B. Phippen, Roberto Fontes Vieira, and Zhigang Hao}}, [http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1999/pdf/v4-499.pdf "Basil: A Source of Aroma Compounds and a Popular Culinary and Ornamental Herb"], reprinted from: Perspectives on new crops and new uses (1999), ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, {{ISBN|978-0-9615027-0-6}}.