Peppermint Medicinal Properties And Its Facts

Most of the delicious items that are served in the marriages, birthday parties, meetings, congregations and other such celebrations are made out of fruits and vegetables.

The human beings cannot lead a very happy life without these divine plants and trees and at least growing one sapling in a house will do the magic.

This topic will deal with a plant named peppermint which comes under the menthol family. The botanical name of this plant is Mentha piperata.

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• Peppermint plant is a cross between water-mint and spearmint and is indigenous to Europe and the Middle East.
• This wonderful menthol plant is cultivated in many parts of the world and also found occasionally with its parents’ species.
• One of the famous botanists of England, Mr. Carl Linnaeious has described about peppermint plant during 1753.

• This plant achieves a height of 90 cm with smooth and square stems and has fibrous roots.
• The acute apex leaves which have dark reddish veins are 9 cm long and 4 cm broad.
• The flowers with a four lobelled corolla are 8 mm long an 5 mm diameter and are found around the stem.
• Flowering takes place during the month of summer.
• Peppermint is a fast growing plant where it grows at an amazing speed after it sprouts.
• Peppermint grows wonderfully in moist conditions such as drainage and near water bodies.
• This menthol plant does not reproduce through seeds but spreads by its rhizomes.
• This fast growing plant is considered invasive in Australia, New Zealand, and in the United States.
• The homemakers grow this plant in a container to reduce rapid growth.
• This plant needs sufficient water for growth and grows wonderfully in part-sun or shade.
• The cultivated plant’s leaves and flowering tops are harvested for extracting high menthol oil.

The extracted oil contains menthone and carboxyl esters, particularly menthyl acetate. The dried peppermint oil has menthol, menthone, menthyl acetata, menthofuran and cineol. It also contains limonene, pulegone, caryophyllene and pinene.

• The leaves were used as crowns by the Greeks and Romans during important feasts and also adorn the tables with its sprays, and the cooks used the essence of the leaves as a flavor for wines and sauces.
• Peppermint is considered as an ancient plant and it is used in tea and for flavoring ice cream, confectionary items, chewing gums, tooth paste, shampoos and other cosmetic items.
• Menthol activates certain receptors in the skin which is the primary source of the cooling sensation.
• The flowers attract honey bees and other insects since it has large amount of nectars in it.
• Peppermint oil has natural pesticides.

• The plant has various medicinal properties.
• It  is used internally as antispasmodic and to treat irritable bowel syndrome, respiratory infections, inflammation of oral mucosa, as carminative, cholagogue, antibacterial and secretolytic and it has a cooling properties.
• The oil is applied externally for treating nervous and muscle pain.

Health Benefits of Peppermint

A medicinal capsule which is made out of the oil is used during colonoscopy procedure to reduce the pain. Pepper mint is also used in aromatherapy and in folk medicine to cure nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and other such problems. Studies are going on with respect to toxicology of the oil and plant as a whole.