Japanese mint oil

Cornmint oil, Japanese mint oil is produced by steam distillation of the flowering herb Mentha arvensis var. piperascens Malinv. The crude oil contains ca. 70% (-)-menthol, which can be isolated by crystallization at low temperature. 

Dementholised mint oil Japanese mint oil (-)-Menthol (30-50), menthone (17-35), isomenthone (5-13)... 

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. 

Garratt used the variable proportion of furfuraldehyde present in different types of oil as a means of detecting Japanese mint oil in peppermint oil. As the quantity of furfuraldehyde was found to be approximately the same for all oils of the same type, a roughly quantitative method was developed. 

Mentha arvensis oU Colorless to light yellow oil with a sharp, fresh, minty odor and a cooling, minty, somewhat bitter-sharp taste which is markedly less sweet and full than that of peppermint oil. Production By steam distillation of the so-called Japanese mint, Mentha arvensis van piperascens, a cultivated form of field mint. Main producers are China and India, where about 80001 Mentha arvensis oil were produced in 1992, this corresponds to 30001 de-mentholized oil and 50001 menthol. 

Menthol is the principal component of Japanese peppermint oil. In Japan it has been obtained since the 17th century from corn mint (Mentha arvensis L.) (Fig. 3.25). Important areas of cultivation are at present in India, China, Japan,... 

Cornmint oil is obtained from flowering tops and leaves of Mentha canadensis L. (M. arvensis L., Japanese mint, Lamiaceae), yield of 0.5-2%. The content of menthol achieved 90% of the oil. Menthol is partly separated by crystallization and the remaining oil has appearance and odor resembling peppermint oil. The oil is used as a cheap alternative to peppermint oil, but easily recognized organoleptically because of its harsh flavor. Commint oil can be used in herbal blends and liquor flavors. Menthol obtained from the oil is mainly used in dmg and cigarette production. 

The oil distilled in America and Europe is derived from varieties of Mentha pwerita, chiefly Mentha piperita, var. vulga/ris or hlack mint, and Mentha piperita, var. officinalis or white mint . The former is the hardier plant and yields the greater quantity of oil, whilst the latter yields less oil, but of more delicate odour and flavour. The parent plant of Japanese peppermint is Mentha arvensis, var. piperascetis Holmes, or Mentha canadensis, var. piperascens Briquet, which yields an oil much inferior to that of Mentha piperita. 

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