MINT PEPPER

MENTHA PIPERITA

Peppermint is a plant that can grow up to 70 cm in height, with erect stems and rhizome roots spreading into the ground. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, they are simple, lanceolate and covered by shiny green hair. The fruits are crowded into terminal heads, conic spikes that bloom bottom-up. The single flowers, with fused irregular petals are small, white, pink or violet; the whorl (corolla), tube tapered funnel-shaped, is two-lipped with four subequal lobes, the upper lobe with one single lobe, and the lower with 3 different lobes. It blooms in summer till autumn.
The fruit is a nutlet containing 1 to 4 seeds.
Due to its strong taste peppermint is rarely used for cooking where other species of mint are preferred; the essence of peppermint is mainly employed in the preparation of drinks and confectionary.
In the aroma therapy peppermint is a tonic for supporting the nervous system; it helps digestion, it is also good for liver, intestine, to reduce spasms and flatulency. It is a good expectorant, analgesic and antiseptic. You can use it in case of bad digestion, nausea, diarrhoea, cold, flu, acne, toothache, migraine. Peppermint is employed in the pharmaceutical industry as fragrance (mouthwashes, toothpaste, herbal teas) as well; Peppermint is an effective painkiller and decongestant of the upper airways.