Peppermint, also known as silverweed and night breath, is a perennial herb in the mint genus of the labiaceae family. Peppermint is one of the commonly used Chinese medicines. It is a cool drug for sweating and antipyretic, treating influenza, headache, red eyes, body heat, throat, gums and other diseases. External use can treat neuralgia, skin itching, rash and eczema. Usually use mint instead of tea, clear heart and bright eyes.

Peppermint essential oil is a colorless to light greenish-yellow transparent flowing liquid extracted from the flowering parts and leaves of peppermint through water distillation or sub-critical low temperature, with a fresh, cool, green, sweet smell, depending on the origin. The main producers of this essential oil are the United States, India, Russia and China.

Chemical composition

The chemical composition of peppermint essential oil mainly includes menthol (also known as menthol), menthone, limonene, menthene, cresine and so on. Among them, menthol is the main ingredient of peppermint essential oil and the most important ingredient of peppermint for medicinal purposes. Peppermint essential oil is one of the few medicinal plants where healing molecules can be fully transferred into essential oils, and its conversion rate is very high because its main ingredient is menthol. In recent years, researchers have also conducted in-depth studies on other active ingredients in peppermint essential oil, such as phenols, flavonoids and so on. These active ingredients show good biological activity in anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial and other aspects, providing more possibilities for the application of peppermint essential oil in medicine, cosmetics and other fields.

Pharmacological action

Evacuation wind and heat

Peppermint essential oil is the main component of peppermint, its taste, cool, with the effect of evacuating wind and heat. Can be used for wind-heat cold, wind-temperature people, daub on the forehead, help relieve the discomfort caused by wind heat.

Antibiosis

Peppermint essential oil has natural antibacterial activity and has been widely concerned because of its broad-spectrum antibacterial activity. Peppermint essential oil can inhibit a variety of fungi and bacteria, but the intensity of antibacterial activity is different. Studies have shown that peppermint essential oil not only has a high or extremely sensitive antibacterial sensitivity to penicillium oxalate and Penicillium haosii, but also has an inhibitory effect on the common pathogenic fungi of fruit and vegetable diseases.

Antioxidant

Oxidative stress is caused by excessive oxidation of free radicals, and phenols contained in peppermint essential oil can combine with free radicals to play an antioxidant role. Some studies have found that peppermint essential oil has certain antioxidant capacity on total antioxidant, superoxide anion free radical, hydroxyl free radical and diphenyl bitter acyl free radical, and the scavenging ability is related to the concentration of essential oil.

Promotes wound healing

Wound healing is a complex process, including multiple interdependent stages such as hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodeling. Studies have found that peppermint essential oil can shorten the pro-inflammatory period, and up-regulate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), fibrocyte growth factor 2 (FGF-2), iNOS, and play the role of vascular expansion, vascular regeneration and reconstruction, so as to achieve wound healing.

Extraction technology

Distillation method:

This is one of the main extraction methods of peppermint essential oil. Place the mint leaves or mint flowers in a still, add the right amount of water, and then distill. During the heating process, the essential oil in the mint leaves will evaporate, and then condense into a liquid through the condenser, and finally collect the mint essential oil.

The peppermint essential oil extracted by this method retains the natural aroma and active ingredients of the plant, and is a more commonly used method.

Solvent extraction method:

Soak the mint leaves or mint flowers in a suitable organic solvent, such as ethanol or acetone, and let the solvent penetrate the mint to extract the essential oil components. The solvent is then evaporated by distillation to produce peppermint essential oil. This method can extract more essential oil components, but may leave some solvents.

Cold pressing method:

This method is suitable for the fruit of peppermint. The essential oils are extracted from the fruit by mechanical cold pressing. This method is simple and direct, does not require the use of chemical solvents, and retains the natural purity of peppermint essential oil.

Soaking method:

The peppermint is soaked in hot oil to release the essential oil of the plant, and then the pure essential oil can be extracted by filtering.

Freeze-press extraction method:

Water was added in the process of crushing plant mint, the fruit liquid was collected, and the essential oil was separated by centrifuge.

Application field

The application field of peppermint essential oil is very wide, covering many aspects.

In the food and beverage sector, peppermint essential oil is used as a flavoring agent to add a unique cool taste to a variety of products such as beverages, ice cream, confectionery and pastries.

In the field of cosmetics and personal care, peppermint essential oil also plays an important role. It can be used to make a variety of skin care, hair care and bath products, such as facial cleansers, foot scrubs, handmade soaps, etc. The cooling properties of peppermint oil soothe the skin and shrink microvessels, especially for oily skin and for clearing blackheads. In addition, peppermint essential oil can also be used in oral care, which has the effect of refreshing breath and eliminating bad breath.

In the field of aromatherapy and home care, peppermint essential oil is also widely used. It can be used by way of aromatherapy or massage to help soothe the body and mind and relieve pain such as headaches, migraines and toothaches. At the same time, peppermint essential oil also has the effect of cleaning the respiratory tract, relieving allergy symptoms, improving concentration and alertness. In addition, peppermint essential oil drops on the sponge can also dissolve unpleasant odors or fishy smells, and repel mosquitoes.

Peppermint essential oil also has certain applications in the medical field. It can be used to relieve symptoms such as muscle fatigue, neuralgia and gastrointestinal upset. A study has shown that topical application of peppermint essential oil to the skin can relieve pain associated with fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome.

In short, peppermint essential oil, with its unique cooling properties and a variety of effects, has a wide range of application prospects in many fields. With the improvement of people's health awareness and the pursuit of natural products, the market demand for peppermint essential oil is also increasing.