Common Name : Pudina / Corn Mint
Plant Parts Used : Parts Used. Leaves, flowering tops, stems, extract

Description :
A small herb of erect habit. Stem short, branched, square and creeping rhizomes. Leaves narrow below stalked, oblong, lanceolate toothed, 3-6 cm long. Small lilac flowers are in whorls.

Characteristics and Constituents :
The main constituents of oil are 4.5-10% esters- Menthyl acetate, not less than 44% free alcohols calculated as menthol and 15-20% of ketones calculated as methonic. M. arvensis yields 70-90% of menthol. A key intermediate (+) pulegone that appears to be either oxidised to mentho-furane or reduced to (+) isomethone or (-) menthone, which are further reduced and converted to esters, menthone giving menthol and menthyl acetate. The other component found are ? - pipene, ? -thujene, -Iimonine, ?-phellandrene, cineol piperitone, caryophyllene and unidentified sesquiterpene.