An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Mentha x piperita

Mentha x piperita (Lamiaceae)

Common Names
Peppermint
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
Subspecies
nothosubsp. piperita
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
(+)-ALPHA-PINENE 0 Leaf 14.0 145.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
(+)-ISOMINTLACTONE 0 Leaf 0.0 0.3 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
(+)-LIMONENE 0 Leaf 160.0 1590.0 -1.41 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
(+)-PULEGONE 4 Leaf 0.0 440.0 -1.00 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
(-)-LIMONENE 0 Leaf Jim Duke's personal files.
(-)-LINALOOL 0 Leaf 5100.0 1.23 *
(-)-LINALYL-ACETATE 0 Leaf 3900.0 1.00 *
(-)-MENTHOL 4 Leaf 570.0 22800.0 1.29 *
(-)-MENTHONE 2 Leaf 310.0 12400.0 1.48 *
(-)-MINTLACTONE 0 Leaf 0.3 3.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
1,3-DIMETHYL-CYCLOHEXANONE 0 Essential Oil *
1,4-DIMETHOXY-BENZENE 0 Leaf 0.0 0.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
1,8-CINEOLE 67 Leaf 45.0 3000.0 -0.14 *
1-MENTHYL-BETA-D-GLUCOSIDE 0 Plant J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
2,6-DIMETHYL-PYRIDINE 0 Leaf *
2-BUTYL-ISOVALERIC-ACID-METHYL-ESTER 0 Leaf 2.0 20.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
2-ETHYL-HEX-AN-1-OL 0 Leaf 0.0 0.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
2-HYDROXY-BENZALDEHYDE 0 Leaf 0.0 0.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
2-METHYL-BUT-2-EN-1-AL 0 Leaf 0.0 0.1 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
2-METHYL-BUTYRIC-ACID-METHYL-ESTER 0 Leaf 0.0 0.0 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
Convulsant 3 R.J. Hixtable (Huxtable, R.J. (as T. Max). 1992. This and That:The Essential Pharmacology of Herbs and Spices. Tips 13:15-20 Huxtable, R.J. 1992b. The Myth of Benficent Nature. The Risk of Herbal Preparations. Anns. Intern. Med. 117(2):165-6; Huxtable, R.
Copper-Antagonist 1 Challem, J., Berkson, Burt, and Smith, Melissa Dianne. 2000.
Syndrome X - The complete nutritional program to prevent and reservse insulin resistance. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 272 pp. $24.95
Cosmetic 2 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Counterirritant 3 *
COX-1-Inhibitor 3 *
COX-2-Inhibitor 4 *
Culicide 3 *
Cyclooxygenase-Inhibitor 4 *
Cytochrome-P450-Inducer 2 *
Cytochrome-P450-Inhibitor 1 Pizzorno, J. 1998. Total Wellness. Prima Health, a division of Prima.
Cytoprotective 2 Newall, C. A., Anderson, L. A. and Phillipson, J. D. 1996. Herbal Medicine - A Guide for Health-care Professionals. The Pharmaceutical Press, London. 296pp.
Cytotoxic 8 Phytotherapy Research, 4: 93.
Decongestant 1 *
Decongestant? 1 Eccles, R., et al. 1989. The effects of oral administration of (-)-menthol on nasal resistance to airflow and nasal sensation of airflow in subjects suffering from nasal congestion associated with the common cold. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 42: 652-654, 1990.
Degranulant 1 *
Deiodinase-Inhibitor 2 Jim Duke's personal files.
Demulcent 1 *
Dentifrice 2 Martindale's 29th
Deodorant 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Depressant 1 Cooper-Driver, G. A., Chemical substances in plants toxic to animals, pp. 213-47 in Rechcigl, M., Jr., ed. CRC Handbook of Naturally Occurring Food Toxicants, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1983, 339 pp.