Essential Oils

The plants bear small, white to pinkish flowers in the axils of the upper leaves. Peppermint essential oil is extracted from the whole plant above ground just before flowering. The oil is watery, clear to pale yellow in colour, with a distinct, sharp, menthol smell.

Peppermint is a fragrant perennial herb that grows up to about one meter high. The plant has a large number of long, square stems. Once harvested, peppermint sometimes becomes a creeping plant. Purple-green, lance-shaped leaves grow in pairs op opposite sides of the square stems. The leaves are slightly hairy on the underside and bluntly serrated.

PEPPERMINT (Mentha spicata)