PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Las sumidades floridas y las hojas.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Estimulante, antisética, carminativa, tónica e insecticida.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Indisposiciones estomacales. Preparar una infusión con 10 g de hojas frescas y flores en 125 cm cubicos de agua durante 10 minutos. Colar por expresión y tomar después de las principales comidas.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition: Las hojas y flores contienen mentol, aceite esencial, alcanfor y tanino. Las flores llevan carvona.

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Caminos de Santiago.

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

External lipophilic methylated flavonoids have been extd. from dried leaves of Mentha aquatica, M. spicata, M. ´ piperita and M. citrata.  After sepn. and purifn., twenty flavonoids have been identified by means of spectrometric methods (UV, EIMS, 1H NMR).  The flavonoid patterns of these species and hybrid support the view that M. ´ piperita may be a hybrid of M. aquatica and M. spicata while a linalool-producing sample of M. citrata may be considered a variety of M. aquatica.  Cytol. data agree with the obsd. biochem. results.

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) In the face of emerging new pathogens and ever-growing health-conscious customers, food preservation technol. remains on the top agenda of food industry.  This study was aimed at detg. the effects of the essential oil of Mentha longifolia L., alone and in combination with nisin, on Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis at 8°C and 25°C in a food model (com. barley soup) during 15 days.  The essential oil alone at 8°C inhibited bacterial growth significantly compared with the control (p < 0.05).  However, at 25°C, none of the concns. of the essential oil alone showed inhibitory effect on bacterial growth.  At 8°C, the combination effect of the essential oil and nisin on bacteria was noted at 0.25 mg mL-1 for nisin and 0.05 mL mL-1 for the essential oil (p < 0.05).  The combination of nisin and the essential oil demonstrated significant inhibitory effects on the vegetative forms of bacteria at 25°C, although it was comparable to that of nisin alone at the same concns.  Electron microscopy studies revealed a great deal of damage to B. cereus treated with a combination of nisin and the essential oil.  However, the combination of nisin with the essential oil led to a complete destruction of cell wall and cytoplasm of vegetative cells of B. subtilis.

2) The antioxidant and antithemolytic activities of Mentha longifolia L. aerial part was investigated employing seven in vitro assay systems.  The ext. showed moderate antioxidant activity in some models.  IC50 for DPPH radical-scavenging activity was 12.6 ± 1.6 mg/mL.  The ext. showed potent nitric oxide-scavenging activity between 100 and 800 mg/mL.  The exts. showed good Fe2+ chelating ability.  IC50 were 766.6 ± 13.7 mg/mL.  The ext. exhibited low antioxidant activity in the linoleic acid model but were capable of scavenging hydrogen peroxide in a concn. dependent manner.  Also, the ext. show good reducing power and antihemolytic activity.  The total amt. of phenolic compds. in each ext. was detd. as gallic acid equiv. and total flavonoid contents were calcd. as quercetin equiv. from a calibration curve.

3) Phytochems. are receiving a great interest due to their unique antioxidant property.  Plants are the rich source of phytochems. which are important from antioxidant point of view.  Due to their natural source, these antioxidants are thought to be safer.  The present research work was designed to investigate the antioxidant activity of Mentha longifolia (horsemint).  Horsemint showed the total phenolic contents range from 2.95 ± 07-5.16 ± 0.15 gallic acid equiv. (GAE) g/100 g, total flavonoids, 2.00 ± 0.06-14.94 ± 0.35 CE g/100 g, percentage inhibition of peroxidn. was (93.1 ± 1.11-97 ± 1.64 % and low IC50 values (12.46 ± 0.37-22.09 ± 0.66 mg/mL) for DPPH free radial scavenging.  The antioxidant activity of horsemint exts. showed significant (p < 0.05) differences with in different solvent concn.  From the results it can be concluded that horsemint could be an efficient source of antioxidants.

Origin

Native to Europe and Asia; cultivated in Kashmir, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Action:

Leaf and flowering top— carminative, stimulant, antiseptic, febrifuge. Used for digestive disorders and headaches.

Essential oil—antibacterial.

1) ALFARO, Txumari, Plantas y remedios naturales de los caminos de santiago. Barcelona: B.S.A. 2008, p. 150.

2) VOIRIN, Bernard, et al. Free flavonoid aglycones as markers of parentage in Mentha aquatica, M. citrata, M. spicata and M. ´  piperita.  Phytochemistry. 1999, vol.50, nº7, p.1189-1193.
 
3)  PAJOHI, Mohamad Reza, et al. Effects of Mentha longifolia L. Essential Oil and Nisin Alone and in Combination on Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis in a Food Model and Bacterial Ultrastructural Changes.  Foodborne Pathogens and Disease. 2011, vol.8, nº2, p.283-290.
 
4) EBRAHIMZADEH, M. A.; NABAVI, S. M.; Nabavi, S. F. Antioxidant and antihemolytic activities of Mentha longifolia. Pharmacologyonline. 2010, vol.2, p.464-471.
 
5) BHATTI, Haq Nawaz; WASEEM-UI-ARIFEEN; JABBAR, Abdul. Total phenolics and antioxidant activity of horsemint (Mentha longifolia). Asian Journal of Chemistry. 2010, vol.22, nº6, p.4629-4636.

6) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p  411.