Peppermint: Refreshingly Good and Good-For-You

“Stories of our botanicals”

For us, quality and sustainability belong together. We want our business practices to be good for nature, people, and society. Not only do we set the highest standards for our product quality, we are also careful with the natural resources we use. We are committed to biodiversity and more sustainable practices, and the diversity of our products reflects that. Here, we introduce you to some of our favorite crops and provide some information about how they are sourced. Today’s main actor: Peppermint Leaves.

Part 2: Preserving History

Peppermint is entrenched in our society: it is synonymous with oral care (chewing gum and toothpaste), a signal that the holidays are approaching (candy canes and peppermint bark), and a common component of our beloved home gardens. Although one of the most popular herbs today, not a lot of people know about the rich history of peppermint.

Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist, wrote that Greeks and Romans used peppermint to adorn themselves and their tables at feasts, and that their cooks used it to flavor both wine and sauces. (1) These dark green, coarsely serrated leaves may only grow to 2-5 inches in length, but their aroma and taste packs a refreshing punch to any product. Today, peppermint is a common flavoring for a range of applications, from cocktails to ice cream.

The same active that gives peppermint its distinctive flavor, menthol, also provides a sensation of coolness and easier breathing in today’s cough and cold remedies. (1) Peppermint has a long history in herbal medicine beyond immune health. One of the oldest surviving medical texts in the world, the ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus from 1550 BC, cites mint as a digestive and a tool to soothe flatulence. (2) To this day, peppermint in the form of tea is commonly consumed to aid in digestion and calm an upset stomach. (1)

With such widespread use, how do we ensure this history-rich botanical continues to be a common component in our lives? Fortunately, peppermint is an undemanding plant in terms of cultivation compared to other botanicals. However, it still requires intense field management to ensure optimal yields and the highest leaf quality. This includes careful tillage practices to help insulate the shallow root system through the cold winter months and integrated pest management practices that introduce natural predator insects, which greatly reduce the need for agri-chemical applications.

It is a perennial so well managed stands can last for 4-6 years, and many growing regions have conditions that allow the plant to generate two harvests per season. During harvest, peppermint is cut and laid out to naturally dry in the fields in the arid high desert growing regions, like the American Northwest. The dry leaves are removed and unused stems are most often finely cut and returned to the soil surface as water saving mulch, giving back to the very ground it came from.

1American Botanical Council
2JSTOR

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