Facts about Peppermint
The United States is responsible for about 75 percent of the world's supply of peppermint.
Peppermint, like many spices and herbs, is believed to have medicinal properties when consumed.
Peppermint is one of the most popular flavoring agents, used as a flavoring in tea, ice cream, confectionery, chewing gum, mouthwash, and toothpaste.
A double-blind study revealed that an ethanol solution with 10 percent peppermint oil was as effective in releaving headache pain as 1000 mg of acetaminophen.
Seeds sold at stores labeled peppermint generally will not germinate into true peppermint, but into a particularly poor-scented spearmint plant.
Peppermint can also be found in some shampoos and soaps, which give the hair a minty scent and produce a cooling sensation on the skin.
Peppermint is a well-known example of a plant that offers numerous values to improve the quality of human life.
Peppermint has small purple or white flowers and downy green leaves with serrated edges.
Peppermint was first cultivated in England in the late seventeeth century (Longe 2005).
The essential oil of peppermint includes the principal active ingrediants of menthol, menthone, and menthyl acetate, with menthyl acetate responsible for the plants minty aroma and flavor (Longe 2005).
The pain-relieving effect of peppermint on [[headaches has been known for many years, with the first documented report published in 1879 (Longe 2005).
Peppermint flowers are large nectar producers and honeybees as well as other nectar-harvesting organisms forage them heavily.
Peppermint has been used for thousands of years for ailments of the gastrointestinal tract.
Peppermint generally is generally regarded as "the world's oldest medicine," with archaeological evidence placing its use at least as far back as Ancient Egyptian times.
Peppermint generally thrives in shade and expands quickly by underground rhizomes.
Human creativity has developed numerous commercial uses for peppermint, including using in tea, toothpaste, ice cream, candy, and cosmetics.
Peppermint is used in treating stress, nervous insomnia, anxiety, and restlessness, as well as ued to relieve muscle pain, itching, and fungal infections (Longe 2005).
Peppermint is used as a tincture, tea, an essential oil, oil capsules, and tablets (Longe 2005).
Japanese peppermint oil typically contains 85 percent menthol, while English peppermint oil has a menthol content of 60-70 percent and American 50-78 percent (Longe 2005).
The medicinal use traces to Ancient Egypt, where it was used as a remedy for indigestion, and dried peppermint leaves have been found in Egyptian pyramids dating to 1000 B.C.E.
Peppermint is an aromatic, usually sterile, natural hybrid plant (Mentha Ч piperita) that is a cross between watermint (Mentha aquatica) and spearmint (Mentha spicata) and that spreads by rooting.
Peppermint has been used for thousands of years for ailments of the gastrointestinal tract.