MINT

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MINT

• By Cassidy Ringwald

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Science of mint

• The scent of mint that it is so well know for
  comes from the oils produced on their leaves and
  stems. The oils are found in tiny glands. There
  are many different types of mint, many of them
  hybrids. For example, peppermint is a hybrid of
  spearmint and water mint. Interestingly enough,
  spearmint itself is a cross of apple mint and
  king leafed mint. Mint flowers are bilaterally
  symmetric as it has identical parts on each side
  of an axis. They are brightly colored to attract
  insects to pollinate them. Their fruits are
  small nutlets with one seed.

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Uses of Mint
For ages, mint has been used as food, and for
other uses. In food it is used either fresh or
dried. It has a pleasant odor and a cooling
flavor. It is featured prominently in Middle
Eastern cuisine. They use it on lamb and in
teas. Mint oils are commonly used to flavor
candies and gums. Mint, in addition to bring
very flavorful, has a number of practical and
medicinal uses. In fact, mint was first used, in
teas, to cure stomach aches. It helps aid
digestion as well. The cooling effect is useful
as a decongestant. Mint is also a sedative that
can be applied to insect bites or rheumatic
aches. Mint soothes the digestive tract and
increases bile production. Mint is useful to
protect your other plants as well as it contains
the natural fungicide salicylic acid and the
natural repellents menthol, citronella and
camphor.
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Growing and Harvesting Mint Mint is a very
easy plant to grow. It grows well in both shade
and sun. Little maintenance is required.
Because of this, mint is considered invasive and
may overtake your garden if not kept in check.
It grows best in well dug soil that is fertile
and water retentive. Mint prefers partial shade.
Since the leaves are the most useful part of the
plant, it is helpful to cut off the flowers.
This will increase the number of leaves. The
plant to harvest time for mint is about 3 months.
You should pick the top leaves first, as this
encourages growth. Then harvested leaves can be
dried in a warm place, but this will cause them
to lose some flavor.
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Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) is a very
interesting part of the mint family. It is very
practically useful, but it is also poisonous.
The oils are used for aromatherapy. It should
never be ingested orally. It can be safely
ingested when brewed as tea. This pennyroyal tea
was used in olden times to terminate pregnancy.
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Peppermint (Mentha piperitais) is a hybrid of
water mint and spearmint. It is sometimes called
the worlds oldest medicine. It has a high
menthol content and is often used in flavoring.
It occurs most often in moist environments and
grows very well. Peppermint is indigenous to
Europe, but is now grown throughout the world.
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Spearmint (Mentha spicata) is native to Europe
and Southwest Asia. It grows well in wet soils.
Spearmint prefers partial shade. It is used in
Middle-Eastern teas. It is said to cure stomach
aches. It is named spearmint for the pointed
ends of the leaves.
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Water mint (Mentha aquatica) is a mint plant
native to Europe, Northwest Africa and Northwest
Asia. It occurs in water and near streams, hence
the name water mint. It is often hybridized. It
is a good disinfectant for wounds.
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Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens) is an easy to grow
herb often used ornamentally as it is known to be
aesthetically pleasing. It has light purple-pink
flowers. Apple mint is often used to flavor
foods, in jelly form. It also is a component in
mint tea often.
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Bergamot Mint (Menta Citrata) is a flavorful herb
that has a taste reminiscent of citrus. For this
reason, it is often used in tea. It is also
known to be good for digestion and to cure
headaches and fevers. It is also called
horsemint.