Description
It is obtained from steam distillation of the herb follow by crystallization of menthol and hydrogenation of menthone..
History
Mint oil is steam distilled from flowering tops of Japanese mint, a perennial aromatic herb native to Japan, now cultivated in sub-tropical Climates around the world. India is one of the massive producer and exporter of mint products such as mentha oil in the world. Mentha Avensis is cultivated in semi temperature region of Himalayas mainly in Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Punjab, Harayana, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. Mint oil consists of volatile oil obtained from Mentha Avensis. The area under Mentha cultivation is estimated about 1,90,000 hectares. India at present produces about 23000 tones of mint oil. Here it is important to learn that Mentha Avensis oilis the main source for natural L-MENTHOL. Natural mint products are as follows:
Color & Aroma
Color :
Cooling, warm and refreshing, sweet, white to light yellow crystal powder,
Aroma :
Strong mint candy flavor
Constituents
Menthol, Menthone, Menthofurane and Cineol
Uses
It is widely used in medicinal and pharmaceutical industry for the preparation of various products. It also adds fragrance, flavour to number of cosmetics, dishes and other products.