Starch

Bacterial strains used in this study are listed in Table 1. All bacteria were obtained from the ATCC or the Biodefense and Emerging Infections (BEI) Research Resources Repository Resources (NIAID, NIH as a part of the Human Microbiome Project). L. crispatus was cultured on de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe agar. A. vaginae (recently renamed Fannyhessea vaginae), G. vaginalis, and P. bivia were grown on brain heart infusion (BHI) agar supplemented with 5% (v/v) defibrinated sheep blood (Quad Five, Ryegate, MT, USA). S. amnii (recently renamed Sneathia vaginalis) was grown on BHI agar supplemented with 1% (w/v) yeast extract (Thermo Fisher Scientific), 2% (w/v) gelatin, 0.1% (w/v) starch (MP Biomedicals, Santa Ana, CA, USA), 0.1% (w/v) glucose (Amresco, Dallas, TX, USA), and 5% (v/v) human serum (Valley Biomedical, Winchester, WA, USA). All bacteria were cultured at 37 °C under anaerobic conditions, generated with an AnaeroPack® System (Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., Tokyo, Japan). Bacterial culture media and supplements were purchased from Becton, Dickinson and Company (Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) unless otherwise indicated.

2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (Sigma Aldrich, Germany) and ((s)-(-)-6 hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethychroman-2-carboxylic acid) (Sigma Aldrich, Denmark). n-hexane (Frutarom Ltd, Israel). Methanol (Lobachemie, India), The solvents used for the extraction of plant material were of HPLC grade. Sigma-Aldrich (USA) provided porcine pancreatic lipase, starch, acarbose, DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), PNPP (p-nitrophenyl palmitate), and orlistat, while MP Biochemicals (Illkirch, France) provided porcine pancreatic α-amylase. All the chemicals used in the experiments were of analytical grade. O. basilicum seeds were obtained from different regions in Palestine. The plant seeds were characterized in the Pharmacy Department at An-Najah National University. The plant material was collected in accordance with the WHO Guidelines for the Assessment of Herbal Medicines and Legislation.
The rotary evaporator (Heidolph OB2000, VV2000, Germany), the grinder (Moulinex model, Uno, China), the balance (Radwag, AS 220/c/2, Poland), and the filter papers (Machrery-Nagel, MN 617, Whatman no. 1, USA) were all used.