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.

Plant 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
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
CEDRENE 1 Essential Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CEDROL 3 Essential Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CHLOROGENIC-ACID 77 Shoot not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CHOLINE 20 Plant not available not available not available Williamson, E. M. and Evans, F. J., Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations, Revised Ed., Saffron Walden, the C. W. Daniel Co., Ltd., Essex UK, 362 pp, 1988, reprint 1989.
CHROMIUM 24 Leaf not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CINEOLE 0 Leaf 2.0 1200.0 -0.73 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CINEROL 0 Essential Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CINNAMIC-ACID-METHYL-ESTER 0 Essential Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CIS-PIPERITOL 0 Leaf 0.5 5.0 -0.34 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CIS-ROSE-OXIDE 0 Plant 0.0 0.3 not available Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CIS-SABINOL 0 Leaf 0.0 0.0 -1.00 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CITRONELLIC-ACID 0 Leaf 0.0 0.1 not available Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CITRONELLOL 15 Essential Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
COBALT 2 Leaf 1.4 9.3 -0.24 Duke, 1992 *
COPPER 12 Plant 3.0 15.0 0.11 Duke, 1992 *
COSMOSIIN 4 Shoot not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
COUMARIN 57 Leaf 0.0 0.2 -0.99 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CRYPTONE 0 Leaf 0.0 0.0 -0.30 Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CUMIN-ALCOHOL 1 Leaf 0.0 0.0 not available Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
CYCLOPENTANOL 0 Leaf 0.0 0.1 not available Duke, J. A. Writeups or information summaries on approximately 2,000 economic plants, USDA, ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705.
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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 Duke, 1992 *
COX-1-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
COX-2-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
Culicide 3 Duke, 1992 *
Cyclooxygenase-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
Cytochrome-P450-Inducer 2 Duke, 1992 *
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 Duke, 1992 *
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 Duke, 1992 *
Deiodinase-Inhibitor 2 Jim Duke's personal files.
Demulcent 1 Duke, 1992 *
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.