Spearmint

Mentha pulegium

Pennyroyal Spearmint Parts used Uses Habitat and cultivation Constituents How much to take Side effects and cautions Collection and harvesting

Spearmint or pennyroyal is indigenous to Europe and western Asia, and has now become naturalized in the Americas. Found in various species and assortments like orange, pineapple, apple mint, peppermint, pennyroyal thrives best in sunlight or limited shadows. This group of plants needs damp, cavernous and sandy soil for healthy growth. Additionally, they require improved soil and continuous watering. Pennyroyals breed very fast if their roots are not controlled by subversive fencings.

Ancient herbal medicine practitioners considered spearmint or pennyroyal to be of multifarious use, while the natural historians highly praised them for their therapeutic properties. According to ancient Greek natural historian Pliny (AD 23-79), pennyroyal was a superior medicinal aromatic plant than roses and was considered to be effective as water purifier. Another natural historian who lived during Pliny’s time, Dioscorides had described pennyroyal as a useful herb for women and stated that it was effective in inciting menstruation and labor. Much later, John Gerard wrote in 1597 that if anyone wore a garland of pennyroyal as a crown, it was effective in preventing the swimming of the head and removed all aches and giddiness from the body. Pennyroyal is also an efficient flea repellant and this is reflected from the fact that the term pulegium has been drawn from the Latin word for flea.

Among the perennially growing mints is pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium). It has erratic patterns and can be found as low-growing variety, scattering plants or vertically gangling sub-shrubs. The plant bears deep pink, blue or violet flowers that are found in dense spiral bunches at the higher joints. The stems of pennyroyal plant are quadrangular when sliced and they climb from the tubers, while the branches and leaves are ordinary. The herb has a strong and pungent mint-like scent. On the other hand, distinct from many other mints, pennyroyal flowers are somewhat two-lipped and not prominently bilateral.

A member of the Lamiaceae family, pennyroyal is a permanently growing aromatic plant that grows from tuber or bulbs. The stems of pennyroyal can be found in different varieties ranging from sub-glabrous to squat and bushy, decumbent to climbing, split, quadrangular shaped and are usually 4 to 35 inches (10-90 cm) in height. Pennyroyal leaves are usually 0.25 to 1 inch (1-2.5 cm) long. They are abridged at the end, petioled at the base and those at the higher end of the stems are sub-sessile. The leaf blade is narrowly ovate to elliptic, while the base is either tapered or thick. The leaf tip is rounded with an edge that is totally or partially indent. The bottom surface of the leaves is short and hairy. In addition, they are found collectively as barbs or panicles. Individually they are assisting and head-like, sub-tended by reflexed leaves or smaller, bracts that appear like leaves.

The best places to look for pennyroyal are the areas flooded during the spring or places that remain dampened at certain seasons like seeps, banks of streams, spring pools and swales, marshy lands, as well as ditches. The herb normally grows in thick clay or soils deposited by silts and thrive best on habitually troubled places like profoundly grazed meadows, or sites with moderate disruptions like places where cyclic depositions of silt and organic remains can be found. Pennyroyal has the ability to endure slight alkalinity, cyclic dry spells as well as humid temperatures. The maximum growth of pennyroyal can be seen at places where other vegetation cast shadows on the stems and rhizomes - underground stems - of the herb. The shade of other vegetation helps to retain the soil moisture and create a humid temperature that is ideal for the plant’s growth.

PARTS USED

Aerial parts.

USES

Pennyroyal is very much peppermint at least as far as being a good stimulant for the digestive system. Pennyroyal not only enhances the discharge of digestive enzymes and alleviates flatulence, colic and stomach pain, but sometimes it is also used to get rid of intestinal maggots. The herb also has other remedial qualities, including healing headaches, trifling breathing contagions. Pennyroyal is also used by herbal physicians to cure high body temperatures as well as stomach congestion. The herb is also of great use for women as it strongly incites the uterine muscles and enhances the menstruation cycle. Pennyroyal mixture is applied on external parts to heal skin complaints like formication (a feeling as if ants are creeping all over the body) and burning sensations on the skin like eczema. It is also helpful in curing body joint aches like gout.

Other medical uses
Ovulation pain.

Culinary uses
Fresh mint makes effective coolants and if one consumes summer drinks and fruit mixtures with mint leaves, it relaxes the body. While mint is naturally added to any gin-based drink, it is as indispensable for mint julep as is bourbon. Fresh mint makes salads and hot and cold soups more delicious. To get the best tang from baby carrots, peas and new potatoes, just simply add fresh mint to these vegetables. Fresh mints may also be used to add spice to jellies, sauces and dips. Particularly, when roasted lamb is served with standard mint paste or mint preserves it tastes exceptionally delicious.
Mint can even add flavor to fish, poultry and muttons and make beans and preparations with lentil tastier. The best tang of mints can be obtained when the leaves are mashed. Hence, one should never use mint leaves in food unless they are being utilized as food dressings. One may also spray mint to vinegar for enhanced flavor.
For a comforting effect, one may prepare a mint tea by mixing 5 ml or one teaspoon of dehydrated leaves of the herb or else 15 ml or three teaspoons of mashed new mint leaves in 250 ml of boiling water. Commercially too, there are numerous use of mints. They are used to add zing to soft drinks, chewing gums, confectionary, baked food, gelatins, ice creams, liqueurs as well as syrups.

Craft uses
For better perfumed packages one may use the scented mint leaves to potpourris or to packets.

HABITAT AND CULTIVATION

Indigenous to Europe and western Asia, pennyroyal or spearmint is now naturally cultivated in North and South America round the year. The herb is available in numerous assortments like orange, apple mint and pineapple. However, the most common varieties of the herb are peppermint and spearmint. The herb thrives best in conditions where there is sunlight or shades of other vegetation and required fertile soil as well as constant watering. If the roots of the herb are not restrained by underground barricades, pennyroyal has the tendency to multiply at a rapid speed. As mentioned earlier, pennyroyal or the mints breed best in sandy soils that are damp as well as enriched with humus. Researchers suggest that the spearmint herbs grow best in a range of pH 5.5 to 7.0.

Studies have established that mints like peppermint as well as spearmint grow best in total sunlight or in the shade of other vegetation; especially the variety called water mint can endure substantial shadow. On the other hand, another variety known as the Corsican mint can only thrive in shade. However, going up the latitudes, mints don’t possess the best aroma and taste unless they are cultivated in complete sunlight and watered regularly.

Although mints can be developed from seeds, this is not the right thing to do for most variety of mints do not yield the best result when grown from seeds. It is, therefore, best to grow mint plants through the grafting process. The best time to do this is before the plans begin to flower in spring. One may cut the stems of a mature mint plant, isolate the mature plant or purchase the grafts from nurseries. While cultivation, row the plants at a distance of 45 cm or 18 inches from each other.

When the mint plants are set in the soil, they spread rapidly under the ground as runners or above as stolons. In order to protect the herbal garden from being taken over by mint plants, one need to regularly discard the surplus runners and this must be essentially done before the spring. Another way to prevent the superfluous growth of mints is to create underground barriers to curb the runners from spreading beyond a limited area. This can be done by submerging drainage floors or encircling the plants with plastic dividers under the ground up to a minimum of 30 cm or 12 inches. Another method by which the rapid spread of mint plants in the garden can be curbed is by planting the herb in large urns or pots with adequate drainage systems and then placing these below the ground.

Here are few other tips for mint cultivators that would help them to yield the best variety of the shrub. To avoid lateral underground growth and still get more mint leaves one many tweak the flowers as this will enable bushy growth of the plant. In addition, it is important to regenerate mint plants once in three years. This can be done by dividing and re-planting the roots during the spring or the winter months.

If the soil is very rich, mint plans are normally vulnerable to swarming and/ or attacks by various microbes like aphids, mint flea beetles, cutworms, spider mites and verticillium withering as well as corrosion. In such circumstances, the infected plants need to be uprooted and burnt immediately and re-planting may be taken up in the following season and at another place. Mint plants need protection at places that experience harsh winters. In these places, the plants may be covered with hay and not mud to safeguard the runners from any harm owing to the adverse climatic conditions.

Mint plants may be grown indoors too. For this, the roots need to be planted in marketable potting soil during spring or early winter. The containers or tubs need to be large enough to allow the runner roots of the mint plant enough space to grow. Although grown indoors, it is essential that these mint plants are put in the sunlight for a minimum of five hours every day. For best development of the plant, the soil needs to be humid and not wet. In addition, one may put on mild liquid indoor plant nourishment once in every three to four weeks. In order to yield tastier leaves, thwart the plants from flowering by keeping the plant stems only up to 13 cm or 5 inches in height. If you find the plant changing color to yellowish, immediately change the plant to bigger containers or divide the root and re-plant it in another pot.

CONSTITUENTS

Spearmint's volatile oil contains pulegone (between 27-92%), isopulegone, menthol, and other terpenoids. Spearmint also contains bitters and tannins.

HOW MUCH TO TAKE

Pennyroyal can be taken both as a mixture or infusion and a tincture. If one desires to have to intake the herb as an infusion, he or she can add one - two teaspoons of dried mint leaves in a cup of boiling water and wait for 10-15 minutes to form a solution. For best effects, the infusion may be consumed thrice daily. Similarly, 1-2 ml of pennyroyal tincture is useful if consumed thrice daily.

SIDE EFFECTS AND CAUTIONS

Pregnant women are advised not to use pennyroyal or spearmint as it considered being an abortifacient. Flea products of pennyroyal are also accessible in the market as medication to safeguard animals. But it is advisable that one should never use the items for their pet cats and dogs.

COLLECTION AND HARVESTING

The best time to crop pennyroyal leaves and stalk edges for garden-fresh use is when the herbs are approximately 15 cm or six inches high. The harvesting needs to be done in the morning after the dew dries out and before the plant begins to flower. It is advisable to chop the plant stalk above the lower bunch of leaves and then dangle the stems along with the leaves in shade to dry. One the leaves are dried or dehydrated, preserve them in sealed containers where there is no sunlight. The leaves need to be crushed only before use. This is necessary to derive the maximum flavor. For later use, one may also chill the leaves with ice cubes, oil or even butter.