Mentha

Mentha
Mentha longifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Genus: Mentha L.
Species
See text

In botany, mint is the common name for any of the various herbaceous plants comprising the genus Mentha, a taxon of about 25 species of aromatic, almost exclusively perennial plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. They are characterized by wide-spreading, underground rhizomes; erect, square, branched stems; paired, oppositely arranged leaves; and small, tubular flowers arranged in clusters. While members of Mentha are known as the "true mints," some plants in other Lamiaceae genera use mint in their common name and the entire family is known as the mint family.

True mints are cultivated for an aromatic essential oil in the stems and leaves, which is used for flavoring, perfumes, and medicinal purposes, with dried leaves sometimes also used for culinary or medicinal purposes. Peppermint (Mentha piperita) and spearmint (Mentha spicata) are two of the most important commercial species.

Description

Lamiaceae (or Labiatae), the mint family, is the flowering plant family to which true mints (Mentha sp.) belong. It has about 210 genera and some 3,500 species. Lamiaceae plants are frequently aromatic in all parts and include many widely used culinary and medicinal herbs in addition to true mints, such as oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, basil, thyme, lavender, and oregano. Many members of the family are widely cultivated, owing not only to their aromatic qualities but also their ease of cultivation: these plants are among the easiest plants to propagate by stem cuttings. The leaves emerge oppositely, each pair at right angles to the previous one (called decussate) or whorled. The flowers are bilaterally symmetrical with 5 united petals, 5 united sepals.

Mentha (mint) is a genus of about 25 species (and many hundreds of varieties (Davidson 1999). Species within Mentha have a subcosmopolitan distribution across Europe, Africa, Asia (Brickell and Zuk 1997), Australia, and North America. Several mint hybrids commonly occur.

True mints are aromatic, almost exclusively perennial, rarely annual, herbs. They have wide-spreading underground rhizomes and erect, branched stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, from simple oblong to lanceolate, often downy, and with a serrated margin. Leaf colors range from dark green and gray-green to purple, blue and sometimes pale yellow (Brickell and Zuk 1997). The flowers are produced in clusters ('verticils') on an erect, terminal spike or in separate wholes, and are white to purple. The flowers have a corolla with two lips with four subequal lobes, the upper lobe usually the largest. The fruit is a small dry capsule containing one to four seeds. All Mentha species are characterized by an essential oil (volatile oil) in resinous dots in the foliage.

While the species that make up the Mentha genus are widely distributed and can be found in many environments, many grow best in wet environments and moist soils. Mint grows wild throughout the world (Herbst 2001), and peppermint and spearmint, which are European plants, now grow wild in North America. Mints will grow 10–120 centimeters tall and can spread over an indeterminate sized area. Due to the tendency to spread unchecked, mints are considered invasive in various environments (Brickell and Cole 2002).

Species and hybrids

Two of the most well-known and widely available species are Mentha piperita, known as peppermint, and M. spicata, or spearmint. Peppermint has bright green leaves, and stems that are purple tinged; it has a peppery flavor and is more pungent than spearmint (Herbst 2001). Spearmint has green or gray-green leaves, lacks a leafstalk, and have a milder flavor and fragrance (Herbst 2001). The essential oil of these plants are used for flavoring, such as in chewing gum or to disguise the tastes of medicinal drugs. Mint is cultivated in Europe, Asia, and the United States, with peppermint and spearmint the most important commercial species (Herbst 2001).

Below is a selection of what are considered to be pure species of mints. Listed here are accepted species names and common names (where available).

Mentha aquatica – Water mint, or Marsh mint Mentha arvensis – Corn Mint, Wild Mint, Japanese Peppermint, Field Mint Mentha asiatica - Asian Mint Mentha australis - Australian mint Mentha canadensis Mentha cervina - Hart's Pennyroyal Mentha citrata – Bergamot mint Mentha crispata - Wrinkled-leaf mint Mentha cunninghamia Mentha dahurica - Dahurian Thyme Mentha diemenica - Slender mint Mentha gattefossei Mentha grandiflora

Mentha haplocalyx Mentha japonica Mentha kopetdaghensis Mentha laxiflora - Forest mint Mentha longifolia - Horse Mint Mentha nemorosa - large apple mint, foxtail mint, hairy mint, woolly mint, Cuban mint Mentha pulegium – Pennyroyal Mentha requienii – Corsican mint Mentha sachalinensis - Garden mint Mentha satureioides - Native Pennyroyal Mentha spicata – Spearmint, Curly mint Mentha suaveolens – Apple mint, Pineapple mint (a variegated cultivar of Apple mint) Mentha vagans - Gray mint

Selected hybrids

The mint family has a large grouping of recognized hybrids.

Mentha × gracilis - Ginger Mint Mentha × piperita – Peppermint Mentha × rotundifolia (M. longifolia × M. suaveolens) - False Apple-mint Mentha × smithiana (M. aquatica × M. arvensis × M. spicata) - Red Raripila Mint Mentha × villosa (M. spicata × M. suaveolens; syn. M. cordifolia) - Apple-mint Mentha × villosonervata (M. longifolia × M. spicata) - Sharp-toothed Mint

Cultivation

Mentha x gracilis and M. rotundifolia. The steel ring is to control the spread of the plant.

All mints prefer, and thrive, in cool, moist spots in partial shade (Bradley 1992). In general, mints tolerate a wide range of conditions, and can also be grown in full sun.

They are fast growing, extending their reach along surfaces through a network of runners. Due to their speedy growth, one plant of each desired mint, along with a little care, will provide more than enough mint for home use. Some mint species are more invasive than others. Even with the less invasive mints, care should be taken when mixing any mint with any other plants, lest the mint take over. To control mints in an open environment, mints should be planted in deep, bottomless containers sunk in the ground, or planted above ground in tubs and barrels.

Some mints can be propagated by seed. Growth from seed can be an unreliable method for raising mint for two reasons: mint seeds are highly variable, one might not end up with what one presupposed was planted; some mint varieties are sterile. It is more effective to take and plant cuttings from the runners of healthy mints.

The most common and popular mints for cultivation are peppermint (Mentha × piperita), spearmint (Mentha spicata), and (more recently) pineapple mint (Mentha suaveolens).

Mints are supposed to make good companion plants, repelling pest insects and attracting beneficial ones.

Harvesting of mint leaves can be done at anytime. Fresh mint leaves should be used immediately or stored up to a couple of days in plastic bags within a refrigerator. Optionally, mint can be frozen in ice cube trays. Dried mint leaves should be stored in an airtight container placed in a cool, dark, dry area.

Uses

Culinary

A jar of mint jelly. Mint jelly is a traditional condiment served with lamb dishes.

The leaf, fresh or dried, is the culinary source of mint. Fresh mint is usually preferred over dried mint when storage of the mint is not a problem. The leaves have a pleasant warm, fresh, aromatic, sweet flavor with a cool aftertaste. Mint leaves are used in teas, beverages, jellies, syrups, candies, and ice creams. In Middle Eastern cuisine mint is used on lamb dishes. In British cuisine, mint sauce is popular with lamb.

Mint is a necessary ingredient in Touareg tea, a popular tea in northern African and Arab countries.

Alcoholic drinks sometimes feature flavor of mint, namely the Mint Julep and the Mojito. Crème de menthe is a mint-flavored liqueur used in drinks such as the grasshopper.

Mint essential oil and menthol are extensively used as flavorings in breath fresheners, drinks, antiseptic mouth rinses, toothpaste, chewing gum, desserts, and candies; see mint (candy) and mint chocolate. The substances that give the mints their characteristic aromas and flavors are menthol (the main aroma of Peppermint, and Japanese Peppermint) and pulegone (in Pennyroyal and Corsican Mint). The compound primarily responsible for the aroma and flavor of spearmint is L-carvone.

Methyl salicylate, commonly called "oil of wintergreen", is often used as a mint flavoring for foods and candies due to its mint-like flavor.

Mints are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Buff Ermine.

Medicinal and cosmetic

Mint was originally used as a medicinal herb to treat stomach ache and chest pains. To cure stomach aches, put dried mint leaves in boiling water, then, when it cools drink it. This tea is called monstranzo. During the Middle Ages, powdered mint leaves were used to whiten teeth. Mint tea is a strong diuretic. Mint also aids digestion.

Menthol from mint essential oil (40-90%) is an ingredient of many cosmetics and some perfumes. Menthol and mint essential oil are also much used in medicine as a component of many drugs, and are very popular in aromatherapy.

A common use is as an antipruritic, especially in insect bite treatments (often along with camphor).

Menthol is also used in cigarettes as an additive, because it blocks out the bitter taste of tobacco and soothes the throat.^{[citation needed]}

Many people also believe the strong, sharp flavor and scent of Mint can be used as a mild decongestant for illnesses such as the common cold.

In Rome, Pliny recommended that a wreath of mint was a good thing for students to wear since it was thought to "exhilarate their minds". Some modern research suggests that he was right.^{[citation needed]}

Insecticides

Mint leaves are often used by many campers to repel mosquitoes. It is also said that extracts from mint leaves have a particular mosquito-killing capability.

Mint oil is also used as an environmentally-friendly insecticide for its ability to kill some common pests like wasps, hornets, ants and cockroaches.

Origin and usage of the word mint

Mint descends from the Latin word mentha, which is rooted in the Greek word minthe, mentioned in Greek mythology as Minthe, a nymph who was transformed into a mint plant. The word itself probably derives from a now extinct pre-Greek language, see Pre-Greek substrate.

Mint leaves, without a qualifier like peppermint or apple mint, generally refers to spearmint leaves.

In Central and South America, mint is known as hierbabuena (literally, "good herb"). In Lusophone countries, especially in Brazil, mint species are popularly known as "Hortelã". In the Hindi and Urdu languages it is called Pudeena.

The taxonomic family Lamiaceae is known as the mint family. It includes many other aromatic herbs, including most of the more common cooking herbs, including basil, rosemary, sage, oregano and catnip.

As an English colloquial term, mint stands for any small sugar confectionery item flavored to taste like the aforementioned plant.

In common usage, several other plants with fragrant leaves may be erroneously called a mint. Vietnamese Mint, commonly used in Southeast Asian cuisine, is not a member of the mint family (taxonomic family Lamiaceae).

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bradley, F. M. 1992.

• Brickell, C., and J. D. Zuk. 1997.

ref name="azEncycloPlants">Brickell, Christopher and Zuk, Judith D. (1997). The American Horticultural Society: A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. New York, NY, USA: DK Publishing, Inc., 668. ISBN 0-7894-1943-2. </ref>

.

• Davidson, A. 1999. )

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Mentha

• Herb teas and old remedies: Mentha (fr. with translator)
• Mentha/Mentha oil as a commodity traded in India
• Germplasm Resources Information Network: Mentha
• Flora Europaea: Mentha
• Flora of China: Mentha
• Medicinal use of mint in Armenia
• United States Department of Agriculture (Online Reference)
• Botanical.com entry on Mint
• Plants For a Future: Mentha genus search page

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