All About Mint
Refreshingly crisp and incredibly versatile, there’s no other plant quite as uniquely aromatic, hardy and multifarious as mint. With its ability to excite the senses and enhance any flavor, mint offers complex notes, evocative sensations and numerous soothing and antioxidant benefits, even in the smallest of doses.
What is mint?
Mint is an aromatic, perennial plant that thrives in moist soil and wet environments. It is fast-growing and able to handle a wide range of conditions, from partial shade to full sun. It has numerous species, and many hybrids and cultivars are known. It propagates by pollination through bees, and also through rhizomes, referring to the horizontal root-type structure that contains food reserves. Leaf colors range from dark green, gray-green to purple blue and even pale yellow, with the leaves and stems commonly harvested for culinary and medicinal uses. While we don’t offer health or medical advice as a company, we do work closely with our customers to select mint oils that suit their needs when it comes to product claims for health, sustainability, naturalness and traceability.
Where mint is grown?
The many sides of mint
Many varieties of mint are grown for their leaves (for tea and herbs), as well as for oil and ornamental reasons. These varities include spearmint, arvensis, peppermint and Mentha Citrata.
Spearmint
Spearmint is known for its sweeter taste. It has two main commercial varieties known as Scotch and Native. Scape spearmint is grown in India, and both varieties are grown in the USA.
Peppermint
Similar to spearmint in flavor but with a stronger and more pronounced taste, peppermint is grown primarily in the USA. India also produces some peppermint, which is known as piperita.
Mentha Citrata
Mentha Citrata is grown commercially in the USA and India. It has a very different character from other mint types, producing a floral aroma.
Fragrance of mint
What makes mint so unique? Patrice Merceret, master flavorist, shares his thoughts:
“Mint is universally renowned for its fresh aromatic character and cool sensations. Fresh, hay, sweet, spicy, green or woody are only a few of its aspects that consumers can recognize in their everyday products.
The uniqueness of mint also lies in its friendly and inviting approach to other ingredients.