460 Handbook of herbs and spices
28.1 Introduction
Mentha is a genus of perennial aromatic herbs belonging to family Lamiaceae, distributed
mostly in temperate and sub-temperate regions. The herb (foliage) on distillation,
yields essential oil containing a large variety of aroma chemicals in varying composition.
These oils and their aroma chemicals command a huge and world-wide demand in
international trade. The genus contains about 25 species, of which Japanese mint (M.
arvensis), Pepper mint (M. piperita) Spear mint (M. spicata) and Bergamot mint (M.
citrata) are the better known species of commerce for their oil and aroma isolates like
menthol, carvone, linalyl acetate and linalool, etc., for use in pharmaceutical, food,
flavour, cosmetics, beverages and allied industries. Peppermint, also known as black
mint, candy mint or Mitcham commercially, is a source of fragrant volatile essential
oil, known for its sweet flavour. The constituents of peppermint oil are very similar
to Japanese mint oil. However, the menthol content is lower in peppermint (35–50%)
with other constituents like menthyl acetate, menthone, menthofuran and terpenes
like pinene and limonene. Peppermint oil is one of the most popular and widely used
essential oils in flavouring of pharmaceuticals and preparations for oral care, cough
syrups, chewing gums, confectionery and beverages. The leaves and also its oil have
medicinal properties as carminative and gastric stimulant. The oil has been reported
to have antibacterial, antiviral, antiparasitic and antifungal activities.
28.2 Description......................................................................................
28.2.1 Botanical description
Peppermint, botanically known as Mentha piperita L. is an aromatic perennial herb,
producing creeping stolons and belongs to family Lamiaceae. It is the natural hybrid
(2n = 6x = 72) from M. aquatica L. (water mint, 2n = 96) and M. spicata L. (spearmint,
2n = 48). The genus name Mentha is derived from the Greek Mintha, the name of a
mythical nymph who metamorphosed into this plant; and its species name piperita is
28 Peppermint................................................................................................
P. Pushpangadan and S. K. Tewari, National Botanical Research
Institute, India