PEPPERMINT

LATIN NAME: Mentha X Piperita

ENGLISH NAME: Peppermint

ORIGIN: Europe

HABITAT: Asia, North America, Europe, India

BOTANICAL INFORMATION: The genus belongs to the family of Lamiaceae and has 20-25 species of plants. Peppermint is a perennial cultivated herbaceous plant with a strong aromatic smell, up to 100 cm in height. The plant is not found in the wild. It comes from the crossing of spearmint and watermint. There are several species of peppermint, among them are plants with pure green leaves and with red-violet ones (stem and reverse side of the leaf), the so-called black mint. The black mint has higher yield of essential oil. Stems of the plant are upright, tetrahedral, bare or rarely haired. Rhizome is horizontal, branched, and procumbent. Thin, fasciculate roots and underground or above-ground procumbent runner depart from the nodes of the rhizome, depending on the density of the soil. The leaves are opposite, elongato-ovate, acuminate with a heart-shaped base. The flowers are small, red-purple collected in the spiciform inflorescences on the tops of the runners. The fruit consists of 4 dark brown nuts. Fruits appear very rarely. The plant multiplies vegetatively, with the help of root cuttings.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION: Peppermint is rich in different chemical components. Essential oil is found in all above-ground parts of the plant (in the inflorescences - 4-6%, in the leaves - up to 3%, in the stems - up to 0.3%). In addition, the leaves contain organic acids, tannins, flavonoids, carotene, Vitamin C, pectin, phytosterol, betaine, hesperidin, ursuloic (0.3%) and oleanolic (0.12%) acids, macro- and microelements and other chemical compounds.

SOME INTERESTING FACTS:

The name of the plant has an interesting origin. There is a legend about a beautiful nymph Minta. Hades, the god of the kingdom of the dead, fell in love with her. But his wife turned out to be extremely jealous - she got angry and turned the nymph into a low and inconspicuous plant. Hades was very upset, but he could not return Minta. He did what he could - gave the plant a wonderful aroma.

In each country, mint was used in different ways. The Romans loved to wear a wreath of mint, because they believed that it makes a person smarter and more intelligent. Also in Ancient Rome, rooms were sprayed with mint water and tables were rubbed with plants to create a cheerful mood.

Until all sorts of whitening toothpastes have been invented, teeth were whitened with the help of a mint infusion - the ancient Greek scientist Hippocrates very much advised to rinse the mouths with this herb. The ancient Jews made mint perfume. In Italy and South America people made mint pep up drinks and infused wine with Mentha.

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