Mint

MINT (Mentha), a perennial herbaceous plant of the labiate family (Labiatae). Of the many varieties of mint, the most widely used in medicine are Mentha piperita L. (peppermint) and Mentha crispa Valerii Cordi and L. (spearmint). Peppermint was first mentioned in 1696 by Ray in England, where it began to be cultivated and whence it was distributed to other countries under the name of peppermint or English mint. It is cultivated in England, the USA, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, the USSR, and other countries. Its origin may be from Mentha viridis (Tikhomirov) or perhaps from Mentha aquatica (Kalning); Japanese mint represents Mentha arvensis, and Chinese mint represents Mentha aquatica. Close to the latter stands the North

Mentha viridis: 1 - apex of the flowering plant; 2 - flower bud; 3 - bisexual flower.

American Mentha canadensis, used by Indians instead of true mint. The leaves of peppermint are opposite, seated on a quadrangular stem, petiolate, ovate-acuminate at the apex or lanceolate, spinose-serrate at the margins, glabrous, covered with hairs along the nerves, dark green above and lighter below. The surface of peppermint leaves is covered above and below with small, visible under a magnifying glass, yellowish-brown glandular hairs of essential oil. The length of the petiole is 8-10 mm, the length of the leaves 5-8 cm, and the width up to 3 cm. Spearmint (Mentha viridis L. and its variety Mentha crispa L., s. Mentha crispa Schrader) has opposite leaves, sessile or nearly sessile, broadly ovate, cordate at the base, rapidly tapering toward the apex, with margins and the entire surface of the leaf being curly. The width of the leaves is up to 3 cm. They are glabrous or occasionally covered with long hairs. Oily glands are located on both sides of the leaf. The odor and taste are pleasantly aromatic, sharply differing from the odor and taste of peppermint. In medicine, only dried mint leaves collected from the flowering plant (from the end of June to August) are used. Dried peppermint leaves must have a strong and pleasant odor and a pungent taste that leaves a prolonged sensation of cold. Adulterations of peppermint include: Mentha silvestris (wild mint), leaves almost without petioles, white-pubescent below and with a faint odor; Mentha aquatica (water mint), leaves ovate or elliptic and pubescent; Mentha viridis L. (spearmint, see above). The main component by which the quality of the product is determined is the essential oil (0.3% in fresh leaves, 1.5% in dry leaves). Peppermint essential oil consists of menthol (see), menthone - C₁₀H₁₈O (7-17%), a liquid boiling at 204°; hydrocarbons: pinene and limonene C₁₀H₁₆ (up to several percent); menthol esters with acetic and valeric acids (sometimes up to 27%); and small amounts of other substances. In the leaves of spearmint, both fresh and dried, there is an essential oil representing carvone C₁₀H₁₄O dissolved in terpenes, a cyclic ketone isomeric with the carvone of caraway fruits and differing from it by a left-handed rotation of the plane of polarization. The USSR demand for peppermint leaves is expressed as 8-9 tons annually. In addition, about 4,000 tons of peppermint leaves are used to obtain peppermint oil. Mint is cultivated predominantly in Ukraine (Poltava region), the Central Black Earth Region, the Tatar Republic, and the districts of the former Tambov and Tula gubernias. Peppermint leaves are exported. The USSR demand for spearmint leaves is insignificant. Spearmint leaves are exported in small quantities. Peppermint oil, Oleum Menthae piperitae (Ph. VII), is obtained by distilling peppermint with a sufficient amount of water; it is a transparent liquid, sometimes pale yellow, sometimes greenish-iridescent, with a clean peppermint odor and a pungent taste that leaves a prolonged sensation of cold on the tongue. The best English oil (Mitcham grade) contains 42-63% menthol and 9-12% menthone. American peppermint oil contains 50-60% menthol and 9-16% menthone. Japanese oil contains 70-91% menthol. Dementholized Japanese oil, commonly entering the market, contains 49-55% menthol and 21-30% menthone. German oil contains 48-55% menthol and 32-33% menthone. French oil contains 43.7-46% menthol and 8.8-9.6% menthone. According to the All-Union standard, the amount of menthol in rectified oil must be at least 50%, and menthone no more than 18%. Specific gravity is 0.895-0.912 at a temperature of 20°. Angle of rotation 20-32°; non-volatile residue after evaporation on a water bath no more than 3%. One volume part of oil dissolves in 4-5 volume parts of 70% alcohol. In its quality, Russian peppermint oil is not inferior to the best grades of American and German oil. Peppermint oil on the skin causes irritation, manifested by a sensation of itching and hyperemia; the latter causes a sensation of warmth at the site of the oil's action. On mucous membranes, peppermint oil also causes irritation, hyperemia, pain, burning; in the oral cavity, a pleasant taste sensation if the oil is present in small amounts (in strong dilution), a reflex-like increase in salivation, in the throat a sensation of warmth; appetite increases, gastric mucus secretion increases; the feeling of fullness and pressure in the stomach disappears in cases of overfilling with food. The slightly depressing effect of small amounts of essential oil on the motor capacity of the stomach and on the tone of its muscles, causing relaxation of the stomach sphincters, contributes to the disappearance of the feeling of fullness and pressure in the stomach, its more rapid emptying, and the easier passage of gas, especially since small doses of peppermint essential oil simultaneously increase intestinal peristalsis. Larger amounts of peppermint essential oil weaken intestinal movements, eliminate spasms, and thus stop pain (colics). In this case, it must be assumed that the oil acts locally to suppress motor and sensory nerve endings in the intestinal mucosa. In addition, peppermint essential oil has an antiseptic effect, which is why mint tea is given during summer diarrhea to replace drinking water. Peppermint oil is added to tooth powders not only for its pleasant odor and slightly cooling taste, but also due to its antiseptic action. Peppermint oil is easily absorbed, but does not cause a general effect in relatively small doses. An excised heart contracts more frequently under the influence of peppermint oil, and then the increased frequency is replaced by slowing and weakening of heartbeats. Large doses of peppermint oil after absorption, when excreted through the kidneys, could cause kidney irritation. Peppermint oil is eliminated from the body partly unchanged through the lungs and kidneys, but in much larger quantities it is eliminated through the kidneys in a modified form; it is oxidized and leaves the body combined with glucuronic and sulfuric acids. Aqua Menthae piperitae (Ph. VII) and Aqua Menthae piperitae spirituosa are prepared from peppermint oil. Both mint waters are prepared from peppermint oil and are used in alkaline and other mixtures instead of distilled water as a constituens and corrigens or as a stomachicum. Elaeosaccharum Menthae, elaeosaccharum with peppermint essential oil, is used as a constituens and corrigens in the preparation of various powders. Tinctura Menthae piperitae (mint drops) (Ph. VII) is used on sugar (2-3 drops), in mixtures with other tinctures as a stomachicum and antispasmodicum. In folk medicine, it is used for abdominal pain, colic, and nausea. For the same purpose, Infusum fol. Menthae piperitae ex 5:200 is prescribed. Trochisci Menthae piperitae (mint lozenges) (Ph. VII) are used as a stomachicum. Peppermint oil has extensive use in dental remedies (mouthwashes, pastes, and powders). In Europe and especially in the USA, peppermint oil is consumed in huge quantities for the manufacture of so-called "chewing gum" (kaigummi), which represents sugared lozenges made of gutta-percha and peppermint oil, which are sucked and then chewed for a long time. In 1925, 40,000 kg of peppermint oil was used for chewing gum. Peppermint oil is used in the perfumery, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The total demand for the USSR is approximately 100 tons of oil per year. Peppermint oil is exported. With sufficient export resources, exports can be brought up to 100 tons or more per year. The procurement price of peppermint oil averages 15-20 rubles per 1 kg. Peppermint oil from spearmint, Oleum Menthae crispae, has no application in medicine. Its demand is 10-12 tons per year for the perfumery industry; it is used mainly due to its content of a significant percentage of linalool and only a small amount of carvone. By this composition, Oleum Menthae crispae produced in the USSR differs from similar products produced in other countries, which are characterized by a significant content of carvone.