Peppermint essential oil

Essential oils Peppermint oil (1-2 drops per 100 mL), anise oil, lemon oil, cinnamon oil, sweet orange oil... 

More than a half of mint oil production falls on peppermint oil and it is the most important because of its exceptional properties. Wide spectrum of therapeutic properties of this oil includes antibacterial and antifungal activities. Biological activity of mint oils is due to the content of their main constituent (IR, 3R, 4S)-(-)-menthol. Mint oils have shown high or middle activity against bacteria and fungi when compared with other essential oils. Peppermint oil was assessed more frequently than Japanese mint oil, that usually was tested as a raw but not dementhohzed oil. 

United States Exports of Spices and Oleoresins. The United States (ca 1993) is the foremost grower of peppermint, spearmint, orange, lemon, lime, and grapefmit products. The mints are processed to essential oils, and the citms fmit are sold as fresh fmit or processed to fro2en... 

In 1993, the United States imported nearly 22 x 10 kg of essential oils at a total value of almost 190 x 10 , an increase over 1992 of ca 2.3 X 10 kg and 935,000. Table 1 fists the quantities and values of 35 imported essential oils. The United States exports seven principal essential oils orange, lemon, peppermint, spearmint, cedarwood, clove, and nutmeg. The latter two are not grown in the United States but are imported as dried spice, processed for oil, and then exported. 

It is also known that during the usual procedure for making teas, in the marc left after straining in the case of fennel ca. 70% of the essential oil present in the original drug is left behind, in the case of chamomile as much as 50-70% (with 60-70% of the chamazulene), and in the case of peppermint... 

The last of these investigations to which reference will be made is that of the peppermint, as representing the menthol group of compounds. Four samples of essential oil were examined —... 

It is thus apparent that at the commencement of vegetation of the peppermint the oil is rich in menthol, hut only a small amount is present in the esterified condition. Menthone only exists in small quantity. As the green parts of the plant develope, the proportion of esterified menthol increases, as has heen found to be the case with other alcohols. This esterification, however, only takes place in the leaves, and when the essential oil extends towards the flowering tops, it becomes poorer in esters. 

Dimethyl sulphide, (CH3)2S, is a foul-smelling liquid, found in minute quantity in the essential oils of peppermint and geranium. It boils at 37°. 

Esters, or salts of alkyl radicles, such as linalyl acetate, etc., are frequently the most important constituents of essential oils. Their importance is especially noteworthy in such cases as lavender , bergamot, peppermint, and wintergreen oils, and their estimation is very frequently necessary. The principle upon which this depends is the fact that most esters are decomposed by solution of caustic alkali (preferably in alcohol) according to the equation—... 

The biosynthesis of monoterpenes, the major components of peppermint essential oils, can be divided into four stages (Fig. 9.4). Stage 1 includes the formation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl alcohol (DMAPP). In plants, two separate pathways are utilized for the synthesis of these universal C5 intermediates, with the cytosolic mevalonate pathway being responsible for the formation of sterols and certain sesquiterpenes, and the plastidial mevalonate-independent pathway being involved in the biosynthesis of isoprene, monoterpenes, certain sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, tetraterpenes, as well as the side chains of chlorophyll and plastoquinone.16 In peppermint oil gland secretory cells, however, the mevalonate pathway is blocked and the biosynthesis of monoterpenoid essential... 

The peppermint oil gland secretory cell cDNA library has proven to provide a highly enriched source of candidate genes involved in essential oil biosynthesis. A functional genomics approach has successfully been employed to clone genes involved in the mevalonate-independent pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis and in the peppermint-specific steps producing (-)-menthol and (-)-menthone. The optimization of LC-MS technology to profile phosphoiylated carbohydrates and... 

GASIC, O., MIMICA-DUDIC, N., ADAMOVIC, D., BOROJEVIC, K., Variability of content and composition of essential oil in different genotypes of peppermint, Biochem. System. Ecol., 1987,15, 335-340. 

It should be pointed out that capillary GC is more suitable for the separation of some volatile enantiomers in a complex matrix, such as essential oils, where high peak capacity and hence high column efficiency is required [69, 70]. Approximately 50 components including enantionmers in the natural peppermint oil were separated using a GC method [70]. Eight pairs of volatile lactone emantiomers were resolved by GC with a y-cyclodextrin-based column [71]. 

Werkhoff P, Hopp R, Isolation and gas chromatographic separation of menthol and menthone enantiomers from natural peppermint oils, in Brunke EJ (ed.). Progress in Essential Oil Research, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, Germany, pp. 529— 549, 1986. 

Mahmoud SS, Croteau R, Menthofuran regulates essential oil biosynthesis in peppermint by controlling a downstream monoterpene reductase, Proc Natl Acad Set USA 100 14481-14486, 2003. 

Coumarin is a natural product found at high levels in some essential oils, particularly ciimamon leaf oil (40 600 ppm (mg/kg)), ciimamon bark oil (7000 ppm), other types of cinnamon (900 ppm), cassia leaf oil (17 000-87 300 ppm), peppermint oil (20 ppm), lavender oil, woodruff and sweet clover as well as in green tea (0.2-1.7 ppm), fruits such as bilberry and cloudberry and other foods such as chicory root (Boisde Meuly, 1993 TNO, 1996 Lake, 1999). It is also found in Mexican vanilla extracts (Sullivan, 1981 Maries etal, 1987). 

Natural menthol is obtained by freezing the essential oil, eg, Mentha arvensis, and the menthol crystals are separated by centrifuging the supernatant liquid away from the crystals. The supernatant oil is then called dementholized commint oil. Impurities in the crystals come from the essential oil and usually give a slight peppermint aroma to the crystallized menthol. The commint oil, rich in (—)-menthone ( 28%) and (—)-menthol ( - 32%), can be further... 

Luzutka JR, Mierauskiene J, Slapsyte G, et al. Genotoxicity of dill (Anethum graveolus L.), peppermint (mentha x piperita L.) and pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) essential oils in human lymphocytes and Drosophila melanogaster. Food Chem Tox 2001 39 485. 

The odor of a freshly crushed mint leaf, like many plant odors, is due to the presence in the plant of volatile C10 and Ci5 compounds, which are called terpenes. Isolation of these substances from the various parts of plants, even from the wood in some cases, by steam distillation or ether extraction gives what are known as essential oils. These are widely used in perfumery, as food flavorings and medicines, and as solvents. Among the typical essential oils are those obtained from cloves, roses, lavender, citronella, eucalyptus, peppermint, camphor, sandalwood, cedar, and turpentine. Such substances are of interest to us here because, as was pointed out by Wallach in 1887 and reemphasized by Ruzicka in 1935, the components of the essential oils can be regarded as derived from isoprene ... 

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