Mint or peppermint is one of the oldest spicy-scent plants. In the ancient times, water extracts of peppermint were used to wake up the mind, lift the spirits, at any digestive problems. Mint stands for hospitality in the myths. Our days mantis used for medicinal purposes as well as in cosmetics, cooking, aromatherapy.
Mint belongs to Labiataeor Lamiaceae family. It is a perennial herbaceous fragrant plant with long creeping rhizome. It stems are simple or branched, four-sided. The leaves are opposite, ovate-lanceolate, sharp, serrate-dentate, often pubescent. The flowers are small, mauve, collected in dense globous whorls in upper leaves’ base. The fruit consists of four round nuts enclosed in a cup. Plant height is 15-45cm.
Mint contains ether oil, the major portion of which is menthol, resin and tannins, carotene, hesperidin, ascorbic acid, chlorogenic, caffeic, ursolic and oleanolic acids, arginine, rutin, glucose, betaine, neutral saponins, phytosterols. Mint is featured with antispasmodic, sedative, choleretic, anticonvulsant, sedative, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. It improves digestion, increases appetite, reduces gastric juice acidity, reduces nausea, stomach cramps and stops colic.
