Relevance. Basil is one of the most popular aromatic plants grown in the world. Various species and forms of Ocimum spp. differ in the nature of growth, color and aromatic composition. The VIR basil collection is represented by 452 accessions of six species from 55 countries. The expansion of the assortment of basil, as well as the identification of competitive adaptive cultivars with high economically valuable traits, determines the need to study and identify promising species and forms of Ocimum spp. The purpose of our work was to study accessions of basil (Ocimum basilicum) from the VIR collection by morphological and phenological traits and to identify accessions that have a complex of economically valuable traits for further use in the breeding.Materials and methods. The studies were carried out at the Federal Research Center N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) at the VIR Pushkin and Pavlovsk Laboratories in 2019-2021 in open ground conditions. The material of the study was 66 accessions of the VIR basil collection of various agrobiological status and ecological and geographical origin. When analyzing the material, phenological observations, biometric measurements and morphological description of plants were carried out. These measurements were carried out in the phase of mass flowering.Results. As a result of the study, the degree of variability of the main phenological and morphological features was revealed. Accessions of basil were selected according to such traits as early maturity, plant height, weight of one plant and cold resistance, which can be used as starting material for breeding. The studied accessions are grouped into 7 varieties of two subspecies (subsp. basilicum and subsp. minimum): var. basilicum, var. glabratum, var. purpurescens, var. majus, var. diforme, var. minimum and var. chamaeleonicum, and their characteristics are given.

Description information on the origin, biological features, nutritional and medical benefits of caraway has been given. Caraway Carum carvi L. is a biennial, herb plant. It is lightdemanding and winter-hardy. First year it grows a rosette of leaves, the second year it produces the flower-bearing stems and later seeds. The medicinal raw material is seeds which are picked just before the time of full maturity. The seeds content up to 20 % of proteins, 25.5 % of fatty oil, 8 % of essential oil, and vitamins, flavonoids, minerals are also present. The seeds and essential oil are used in medicine, in soap manufacture, distillery, confectionery making, bread bakery, perfumery, cosmetics products and agriculture. The caraway seeds are used in veterinary medicine to treat some disease in animals. The caraway fruit possess germicidal, antispasmodic, anesthetic, cholagogic, bileexpelling effects. The seeds can be used as diuretic, stomachic and carminative agents. The seeds of caraway increase milk production in livestock, and also are useful for human's nourishing. Usage of caraway assists to discharge sputum and mucus at lung diseases. Caraway is the excellent melliferous  plant, since the flowers bear much nectar. Production of honey can reach up to 100 kg per one hectare on average. Leaves and shoots of caraway are used in cuisine for salad recipes and to add flavor to meat and fish meal. The fleshy roots could be also consumed as root vegetable. Caraway fruits as a fragrance component are added for cucumber salting, cabbage fermentation and kvass preparation. This article presents the agricultural features for caraway cultivation in middle Russian region. The cultivar ‘Peresvet’ has been bred at VNIISSOK and included in State Register of Breeding Achievements of Russian Federation.