Peppermint as a variety is a multiple cross hybrid, it is not known to have been found in the wild. It is a herbaceous perennial plant with rhizomes (stolon) and it stands the winter well. Its stem is violet, branching, and 30-100 cm tall. Leaves are longish ovate, their edges are crenated or toothed. Its inflorescence consists of complex spikes of light lilac labiate flowers. Its red-brown and acorn-like fruit rarely bears seeds, therefore the plant is propagated by in vitro shoot cultures, or by cuttings, sprouts, or stolons. In Hungary the English ‘Mitcham’ variety is grown the most frequently as a medicinal herb. This plant requires rich soil and warmth, it grows well in wet, humous soils and in part shade. Left to itself it may spread across large areas. Its volatile oil is steam distilled from blossoming sprouts. To obtain dried herbs, budding sprouts are cut, then the leaves are stripped from the cuttings immediately after the harvest, finally they are spread out in thin layers to be dried at a temperature of not more than 40 °C. The active ingredients in peppermint are widely used by the cosmetics, the pharmaceutical, and the food industry.
The main component in the volatile oil of peppermint, menthol, enhances saliva and bile production, and has spasmolytic and anti-inflammatory effects, which is why it is used as a carminative, against nausea and to prevent the formation of bilestones in the case of colic, gripes and biliary colic. It is used as a rinse for rhinitis, and inflammations of the oral cavity and pharynx. An alcoholic extract prepared from peppermint is effective in easing muscle pains and in rubbing lotions for arthritis.
The volatile oil of peppermint and the water solution of its fragrance are known by the cosmetics industry as strengthening, cleansing, freshening, deodorising and covering substances. Its leaves are used as fresheners. Its volatile oil is used as an aroma in toothpastes and mouth washes; it has a cooling, soothing, tightening, and anti-inflammatory effect in skin care preparations when applied externally.
Blossoming sprouts (Menthae piperitae herba)
Leaves (Menthae piparitae folium)
Volatile oil (Aetheroleum menthae piperitae)
- Volatile oil: 2-4 % in leaves, 4-6 % in inflorescence, 1,5-2,0 % in the herba (menthol, menthone, piperitone, menthofuran, sabinene, pinene)
- Flavonoids
- Rosemarinic acid