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 Spearmint Essential
Oil ProfileSpearmint is a hardy branched perennial herb with bright green, lance shaped, sharply serrated leaves, quickly spreading underground runners and pink or lilac-colored flowers in slender cylindrical spikes. The essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the flowering tops. Spearmint is valued all over the world as a culinary herb and was used by the Greeks as a restorative and to scent their bathwater. Native to the Mediterranean region, spearmint is now common throughout Europe, western Asia and the Middle East. It was introduced to the USA where it has become a very popular flavoring. The oil is produced in Midwest USA, Hungary, Spain, former Yugoslavia, Russia, and China. |
| Botanical Name: | Mentha spicata L. |
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| Family: | Lamiaceae |
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| Synonyms: | Mentha viridis, common spearmint, garden spearmint, spire mint, green mint, lamb mint, pea mint, fish mint. |
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| Parts Used: | Flowering tops |
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| Extraction Method: | Steam Distillation |
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| Colour: | Pale yellow or olive |
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| Consistency: | Thin |
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| Aroma Description: | Warm, spicy, minty, herbaceous. |
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| Historical Uses: | Spearmint is valued all over the world as a culinary herb and was used by the Greeks as a restorative and to scent their bathwater. |
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| Modern Uses: | The properties of spearmint oil resemble those of peppermint but its effects are less powerful. It has been used for asthma, bronchitis, catarrhal conditions, sinusitis, colic, flatulence, nausea, vomiting, colds, fatigue, headache, migraine, nervous strain, and stress. Used in fresh flavours,for candies and alcoholic drinks; in herbaceous, fresh fragrance compounds for cosmetic perfumery (hair care products). |
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| Cautions: | Non toxic, non irritant, non-sensitizing. |
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| Main Constituents, % |
| Menthol |
0.1 - 0.3 |
| Menthone |
0.7 - 2 |
| Isomenthone |
Trace |
| 1,8-Cineole |
1 - 2 |
| Limonene |
8 - 12 |
| Carvone |
58 - 70 |
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| Physical Actions |
| Anesthetic (local), antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, carminative, cephalic, cholagogue, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, hepatic, nervine, stimulant, stomachic, tonic. |
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| Toxicity |
LD50 - (oral) rat >not known mg/kg; (dermal) rabbit >not known.
Irritation/Sensitisation - Nil at 4%
Phototoxicity - Not available
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