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Advances in Environmental Biology, 7(5): 902-910, 2013

ISSN 1995-0756

This is a refereed journal and all articles are professionally screened and reviewed ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Comparative response of essential oil composition, antioxidant activity and phenolic
contents spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) under protected soilless vs. open field conditions
1
Abdelrazzaq Al-Tawaha, 1Ghazi Al-Karaki, 2Adnan Massadeh
1
Jordan University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of plant production, 3030
Irbid, Jordan
2
Jordan University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and
Pharmacognosy, 22110 Irbid, Jordan

Abdelrazzaq Al-Tawaha, Ghazi Al-Karaki, Adnan Massadeh: Comparative response of essential oil
composition, antioxidant activity and phenolic contents spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) under protected
soilless vs. open field conditions

ABSTRACT

Spearmint oil has an economical importance and it was used in perfumery, confectionary, and
pharmaceutical industrial. Essential oil accumulation and compositions of aromatic plants has been reported to
be affected by cultivation method like soilless vs. soil-based cultivations. The objective of this study was to
compare essential oil content and composition, antioxidant activity by free radical scavenging activity
(antiradical), total phenols as mg Gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g and flavonoids as mg Catechin Equivalent
(mg CE/g of dry weight) in the aerial parts of a spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) under protected soilless vs. open
field conditions. Results of this study showed that essential oil contents of spearmint varied under protected
soilless condition (3.43%) which higher than that obtained under open field (soil- based) conditions (3.14%).
The major compounds found in essential oils of spearmint plant were 1,8 cineole and pulegone under both
cultivation method. Moreover, essential oil composition was varied under both cultivation methods where 1,8
cineole concentration was (32.9 μg/g) under open field conditions, which is significantly high than that under
protected soilless conditions (10.6 μg/g). Pulegone was the other major compounds of volatile oils of spearmint
which varied from (44.4 μg/g) under protected soilless conditions which significant than that under open field
conditions (20.7 μg/g). On the other part of analysis in this study, the phenolic contents and the antioxidant
activity of plant extract were determined, by Folin-Ciocalteau and the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)
free radical scavenging assays respectively. Phenolic content of whole spearmint plant was significantly (223
mg GAE/g DW) under open field conditions than that under protected soilless condition (114 mg GAE/g DW).
Antiradical of leaves part under open field conditions was 8.7mg/g which is highly significant than antiradical of
leaves under protected soilless condition which was 4.5 mg/g. The presence of total flavonoids of spearmint
plant were (149 mg CE/g) under open field conditions which significance high than that under protected soilless
conditions (73 mg CE/g).These results showed that M. spicata essential oil and extract was affected by
cultivation conditions and environmental factors.

Key words: Spearmint, Soilless cultivation, 1,8 Cineole, Pulegone. Antioxidant activity, Total phenol, total
flavonoids

Introduction
Spearmint (Mentha spicata L.), is one of the
most important aromatic herbal plants and cultivated
for widely use in food, cosmetic, confectionary,
chewing gum, toothpaste, pharmaceutical industries
and for essential oil productions. Spearmint is one of
most important flavour in the world that coming
after vanilla and citrus flavours [31,30,48,45].
Spearmint is used popularly as tea flavouring agent
as well as used as fresh and dried for folk medicine
such as stimulant and carminative. Spearmint
contains a complex mixture of bioactive compounds
covering a number of demands for human health and
exhibiting different biological properties and
activities [15,6].
The essential oil of M. spicata showed strong
insecticidal and mutagenic activity [21]. Essential oil
is extracted either from freshly harvested mint leaves
or from semidried or dried leaves through distillation
process for industrial applications.

Corresponding Author
Abdelrazzaq Al-Tawaha, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture,
Department of plant production, 3030 Irbid, Jordan
Tel.: +962795016606; E-mail: abdtawaha2007@yahoo.com

Adv. Environ. Biol., 7(5): 902-910, 2013
The essential oil content of dried leaves of
spearmint was reported to be approximately (2.5%).
Essential oil are mostly menthol (50%) and
menthone (10 to 30%) were found to be the major
components of essential oil. Spearmint oil contains
monoterpenoids like carvone, limonene, menthone,
menthol, pulegone, dihydrocarveol and s-carvone.
Some of them were found to possess high antioxidant
activity [17]. Essential oil compositions of aromatic
plants depend on their genetic structure, the climatic
factors and the agronomical practices [20, 40,44].
Several factors influence the chemical composition
of plant essential oils, including the species, part of
the plant, season of harvesting, geographical origin
and extraction method [6, 49, 27].
In recent years, there has been growing interest
in finding natural antioxidants, phenols as well as
flavonoids in extraction oils of spearmint plants
because they inhibit oxidative damage and may
consequently prevent inflammatory conditions and
their important role in the prevention of various
degenerative diseases [29] ageing and
neurodegenerative disease [22]. The antioxidants
activity of plant extracts are widely used in the food
industry as potential inhibitors of lipid peroxidation,
as additives in food and cosmetics which become
important and interesting object of research because
of the increasing usage of natural
antioxidants[41,8,23]. These properties provide the
basis for many applications in raw and processed
food preservation, pharmaceutical products,
alternative medicine and natural therapies [9].
Therefore, antioxidants are considered an important
nutraceuticals have many health benefits. Phenolic
compounds, also known as polyphenol antioxidants,
which include flavonoids and phenolic acids, are
found naturally in spearmint plants. Phenolic
compounds inhibit lipid peroxidation, scavenge free
radicals, chelate iron and copper ions. Phenolic
compounds exhibit a range of biological activities,
including anticancer, antibacterial, antioxidant and
antiinflammatory properties [32].
The leaves of aromatic plants are often dried
before extraction to reduce moisture content. During
this process, many compounds, which are dragged to
the leaf surface by the evaporating water, are lost
[36]. Drying may introduce undesirable changes in
appearance, texture, flavour and colour that are not in
agreement with the increasing demand of consumers
for the highest-quality finished product. As many
other food process, drying needs to be optimized
with respect to process economics and product
quality which has led to the development of new
drying techniques. The method of drying usually has
a significant effect on the quality and quantity of the
essential oils from plants [5]. Spearmint belongs to
the Lamiaceae family of plants, which is known to
store their essential oils on or near the leaf surfaces
[36]. One of the preservation methods ensuring
microbial safety of biological products is drying. The
903
contact of dried material with hot air causes
degradation of important flavor compounds and
nutritional substances as well as color alteration [19].
To our knowledge, few investigations have been
made to the chemical constituents of essential oils for
spearmint leaves under soilless culture, although this
cultivation method has more yield than soil based
conditions. Therefore, the first aim of this study,
were to evaluate the effects of cultivation method as
well as environmental conditions. In addition, few
reports were investigated about nutritional,
antioxidant, total phenols, flavonoids of spearmint
cultivated under soilless culture conditions. The
second aims of this study was to evaluated the total
flavonoid content, total phenols of spearmint and
antioxidant activity under soil-based and soilless
culture conditions as well as methanol extracts, and
air drying methods.
Materials And Methods
This study was carried out in Jordan University
of Science and Technology (JUST) campus during
the growing season 2010-2011 in the open field and
protected soilless conditions.
2.1. Experiment 1:
Seedling of spearmint (Mentha spicata L.) was
cultivated in woods beds (120*110*25) in cm
(W*L*D), filled with tuff zeolite (Ø 3-8mm) under
protected soilless conditions. The irrigation water
and nutrients were delivered to the plants via drip
irrigation twice a day for 15 minute (early morning
and evening). The nutrient solutions were prepared
manually once per two week. The concentration of
ions was used in preparation nutrient solution
expressed as (mg/L): N: 360, P: 2, K: 283, Ca: 302,
Mg: 48, S: 64, Fe: 2.76, Mn: 0.974, B: 0.536, Zn:
0.3, Cu: 0.076, Mo: 0.155.
2.2. Experiment 2:
Seedling of spearmint was transplanted in
concrete blocks (95*100*75) in cm (W*L*D) filled
with soil mix with peatmoss under open field
conditions (soil-based). Peat moss was applied at
33L/m2 at the top layer of soil (20cm) to improve for
water holding capacity of soil. Inorganic NPK
fertilizer has formula N2, P2O5, and K2O with
(20:20:20) ratio was applied at the rate 30 g/m2 at the
planting time. After each harvest of spearmint plants,
25g/m2 of NPK fertilizer were added. In addition, 6
g/m2 nitrogen fertilizer was added in the form of urea
(46%N) after each harvest.
2.3. Preparation method for analysis:
2.3.1. Drying methods of aerial parts:

Adv. Environ. Biol., 7(5): 902-910, 2013
Drying is the most important step in the
preparation of mint leaves for extraction and
isolation essential oil by different methods. The
samples from spearmint plants under soilless
cultivation condition were collected from five
harvesting times and the samples from soil-based
conditions were collected from two harvesting times.
The samples were dried at room temperature for
10days. As many other food process, drying needs to
be optimized with respect to process economics and
product quality which has led to the development of
new drying techniques. Drying may introduce
undesirable changes in appearance, texture, flavour
and colour that are not in agreement with the
increasing demand of consumers for the highest-
quality finished product.
2.3.2. Isolation of essential oil:
The aerial parts of M. spicata plants were
sampled and air-dried at room temperature for 10
days. 100 g dry weight (DW) samples were grossly
pulverized and essential oils were isolated by steam
distillation for 3 h. Extraction of essential oil dried
with anhydrous sodium sulfate and stored in sealed
amber flasks at 4°C until analysis The yield of
essential oils is expressed as % (mL 100/ g DW). All
experiments were conducted in triplicates and results
were expressed based on dry matter weight.
2.3.3 Gas Chromatography Analysis (GC):
The isolated oils were dilution with hexane
(C6H12), and sample was injection into the gas
Chromatographic analysis. The constituents of
essential oils of M. spicata were identified. Four
components were analyzed from essential oils of
spearmint plants including; menthone, menthol,
pulegone and 1, 8-cineole.. Identification of aromatic
compounds was based on the calculation of their
concentration in (µg /g).
2.3.4. Preparation of the methanolic extracts:
For the preparation of the methanolic extracts,
each 0.5grams (three replicates) of dried leaves of M.
spicata sample was weighed out, and extracted with
50ml of methanol. Extraction was carried out under
shaker at overnight at 30°C. Each extract was filtered
into a 50 ml volumetric flask using whatman filter
paper No 42. Volume were completed to mark, and
allowed to set in the dark until analysis.
2.4. Determination of total phenolic content:
The total phenolic content of the solvent extracts
was determined by the method using Folin–Ciocalteu
reagent and Gallic acid as standard to produce the
calibration curve [43]. 2000 μl of the plant extract
(triplicate) were transferred into a test tube, and then
904
mixed with 2.5ml of 10% Folin-Ciocalteu reagent.
After 3 minutes for allowing the reaction to take
place, 2000 μl of a 10 sodium carbonate (Na2CO3)
was added. The tube were allowed to stand for 1hour
at ambient temperature, and the absorption was
measured at 760 nm using UV-VIS
spectrophotometer (model SpectroScan 50) against a
blank, with contained 50μl of menthol in place of
sample. Gallic acid was used as calibration standard,
and results were calculated as Gallic acid equivalent
(GAE mg/g dry weight basis).
2.5. Determination of total flavonoids:
The total flavonoid content of the extract was
determined by the method described in the literature
[51]. The total flavonoid contents of spearmint plants
under soilless culture and soil conditions were
determined. Each sample (0.5ml) of the plant extract
(three replicate) were transferred into 150μl of a
NaNO2 solution (15%). After 6 minutes to allow the
reaction to take place, 150 μl of an Aluminum
chloride (AlCl3) solution (10 %) was added and
allowed to stand for 6 minutes, then 2000μl of
Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (4%) was added
to mixture 0.2ml of distilled water to bring volume to
5 ml and the mixture was thoroughly mixed and
allowed to stand for another 15 minutes. The tubes
were allowed to stand for 1 hour at ambient
temperature, and absorption was measured at 510nm
using spectrophotometer against a blank which
contain 50 ml of menthol in place sample. Catechin
was used as calibration standard with different
concentrations 10, 30, 80, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400
and 500mg/l were tested to obtain standard curve;
results were expressed as Catechin equivalents (mg
Catechin/g dried extract).
2.6. Evaluation of antioxidant (antiradical) activity:
Antioxidant activity was determined according
to [10]. Briefly, Free radical 2, 2-diphenyl-l-
picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging effect was
determined. The DPPH were soluble in menthol.
Fresh DPPH stock solution (25ml) was prepared
daily. The solution was prepared by weighing
50mg/100 ml, which represent the amounts we need,
then 0.0125g of DPPH was dissolved in 25 ml
methanol, which resulted in purple color solution.
The mixture was mixed thoroughly and allowed to
stand in the dark for 60 minutes. Absorbance at zero
time (Ato) at 517nm wavelength was determined.
Absorbance then was read at 517 nm, against the
blank. The percentage inhibition of DPPH free
radical was calculated by the formula:
Percentage inhibition (%) = [(A blank- A
sample)/ A blank]* 100
Where, A blank is the absorbance of control
reaction (DPPH alone) and A sample is the
 905
Adv. Environ. Biol., 7(5): 902-910, 2013

absorbance of DPPH solution in the presence of the

test compound. IC 50 values denote the
concentration of the sample, required to scavenge %
of DPPH free radicals. Extract concentration
providing 50% inhibition (IC50) was calculated from
the plot of inhibition percentage against extract
concentration. All determinations were carried out in
triplicate and the results were averaged
2.7. Statistical analysis:
All Data were statistically analyzed using
analysis of variance (ANOVA) according to the
statistical package MSTAT-C (Michigan State Univ.,
East Lansing, MI, USA). Probabilities of significance
among treatments and LSD (P≤ 0.05) were used to
compare means among treatments.
Results:
3.1. Composition of essential Oils:
The yields of essential oils for spearmint plant
grown under protected soilless and open field
conditions were identified relatively to the amount of
dried herbs used. The chemical composition of the
oils is reported in Table 1 according to their
concentration in (μg/g). Results obtained showed that
essential oil percentage percentage (w/w) was
noticed under protected soilless conditions (3.43%)
was higher than that obtained under open field
conditions (3.14%).

Table 1: Essential oils content and concentration of chemical composition (µg /g) as identified in spearmint plants grown in open field and
protected soilless conditions.
Cultivation methods Essential oil(% w/w) Menthone 1,8 Cineole Pulegone Menthol
µg /g µg /g µg /g µg /g
Open field 3.14 0.132 32.9 20.7 0.132
Protected Soilless 3.43 0.106 10.6 44.3 0.106
Significance ns ns ** * ns
*: Significant at P≤0.05, **: Significant at P≤ 0.01.

Essential oils consist of complex chemical
mixtures that vary widely in chemical composition.
In essential oil of spearmint plant, the main
components were 1,8 cineole and pulegone Table 1.
It can be conclude from Table 1 that menthone,
pulegone and menthole concentrations were not
significantly. The chemical composition of spearmint
plant is characterized by the presence of oxygenated
monoterpenes such as menthol and 1,8cineole. [1]
reported the menthol concentration and other
chemical compositions of different mint origin varied
in contents. Spearmint oils is rich in 1, 8 cineole and
pulegone according to our results in Table 1 shows
the 1,8 cineole (32.9μg/g) was significantly high than
that under soilless cultivation conditions with
value(10.6 μg /g). Pulegone concentration under
soilless cultivation was (44.3 μg /g) which higher
than that under soil cultivation conditions (20.7 μg
/g) and significant. Results in this study differs from
those obtained by [30] who studied the oil
composition of peppermint of the same specie
sample in Turkey, in which (+)Menthol, menthol,
neo-menthol, cineole was revealed to be dominant.

Table 2: Essential oils yield (ml/kg) and content of chemical composition (mg /m2) as identified in spearmint plants grown in open field and
protected Soilless conditions.
Cultivation Fresh herbal Dry herbal Essential oil Menthone 1,8 Cineole Pulegone Menthol
methods yield yield yield
Kg/m2 Kg/m2 ml/Kg mg /m2 mg /m2 mg /m2 mg /m2
Open field 2.9 1.04 32.65 0.103 32 20.7 0.103
Protected Soilless 8.3 1.89 64.82 0.200 33.4 83.72 0.200
Significance ** ** ** * ** * *
*: Significant at P≤0.05, **: Significant at P≤ 0.01.

Essential oil yield is a product of biomass yield
and essential oil concentration in the plants. The
essential oil concentration was not influenced by
cultivation methods Table 1. In this investigation,
essential oil yield and content for aromatic
compounds in both cultivation methods was mainly
influenced by biomass yield, therefore, the trends
were identical for both content of chemical
composition and essential oil yields as in Table 2.
The maximum essential oil yield was (64.82 ml/kg)
under protected soilless condition which significantly
high than that under open field condition (32.65
ml/kg) depending on dry matter of spearmint.
Content of chemical composition was listed in Table
2 of their contents in mg/m2. According to Table 2,
menthone, pulegone, 1,8 cineole and menthole
contents were significantly high under protected
soilless condition than that under open field
condition.
3.1. Total Phenols:
The quantitative estimation of the phyto-
chemicals constituents of spearmint show that
spearmint plants were rich in total phenols and total
flavonoids according to their data shown in Table 3.

Adv. Environ. Biol., 7(5): 902-910, 2013
Total phenols content of methanol extracts of leaf for
spearmint plants was evaluated using the Folin-
Ciocalteu reagent and expressed as mg Gallic Acid
equivalent in milligrams per gram (GAE/g). The
results revealed great variation that evaluation of
total phenols content of plant essential oils under two
cultivation methods, methanol extracts, and air
drying method. In the spearmint essential oil, a high
content of total phenols (223 mg GAE/g) was
obtained under open field conditions which
Table 3: Total phenols, flavonoids, and Antioxidant activity of leaves for spearmint plants under soil based and soilless culture conditions.
Cultivation methods Total phenols
mg GAE/g
Open field 223
Protected Soilless 114
Significance **
*: Significant at P≤0.05, **: Significant at P≤ 0.01.
3.2. Total Flavonoids:
Total flavonoids concentration of methanol
extracts of spearmint leaves were evaluated using the
AlCl3 reagent and expressed as mg Catechin
Equivalent (mg CE/g of dry weight) under two
cultivation conditions (soil vs. soilless), methanol
extracts, and air drying methods. The presence of
total flavonoids in leaf parts of spearmint plant under
soil–based cultivations conditions was varying from
(149 mg CE/g) and (73 mg CE/g) under soilless
cultivation conditions as shown in Table 3.
3.3. Antioxidant Activity:
Antioxidant capacity in spearmint leaves was
summarized in Table 3. The antiradical
(1/antioxidant) values varied highly significantly in
leaf under soil-based cultivation conditions than
soilless cultivation conditions. Antiradical of leaf
under soil –based cultivation conditions was (8 mg/g)
which are highly significant than antiradical of leaf
under soilless cultivation condition (3 mg/g).
4. Discussion:
Essential oil of spearmint plant was used
extensively in the food, flavor, and pharmaceutical
industrial. The analyses of chemical composition of
essential oil revealed the richness and diversity of
spearmint essential oils. Pulegone was found as a
predominant component in all the essential oils
studied, together with 1,8cineole for M. spicata
under protected soilless and soil-based conditions in
this study. Few of literature about close examination
of the chemical composition of essential oil for
spearmint plants that reveals composition under
protected soilless and open field conditions and the
variation for major compounds such pulegone and
1,8cineole quantitative. However, for spearmint
plant, a significant quantitative variation of some
chemical constituents was observed between oils
from both cultivation methods. Oil obtained from
906
significantly highest than that obtained under
protected soilless conditions (114 mg GAE/g). It has
been suggested, total phenolic content of plant
materials is correlated with their antioxidant activity
and total flavonoids content. It is considered that the
total phenolic content is due to their high redox
potentials, which allow them to act as reducing
agents, hydrogen donors and singlet oxygen
quenchers [35].
Total flavonoids Antiradical (1/antioxidant)
mg CE/g mg/g
149 8.7
73 4.5
** **
cultivated spearmint plant under soilless, was
observed a decrease in the content of 1,8cineole than
that under open field conditions. Essential oil
extraction from spearmint plants under soilless
condition was collected from five harvesting times,
but under open filed condition was collected from
two harvesting times during growing season before
blooming stage. Also, the chemical constituents of
essential oils was varied under soilless conditions at
greenhouse and under soil –based conditions at open
field and this explained the variation between
concentration of chemical constituents under both
cultivation methods due to different environmental
conditions. A result comparable with [45] that was
reported the different climatic conditions in the
locations affected the quantity of monoterpenes and
sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons, contrary to oxygenated
monoterpenes. Comparison between our results and
the results of other reports showed variations in oil
content and oil composition, that could be attributed
due to the cultivation methods, environmental
conditions including temperature, relative humidity,
irradiance and photoperiod, as well as the time of
harvesting, stage of harvesting and height of cutting
plants. In addition, the components of spearmint oil
vary slightly from year to year.
According to [2], the major compound of M.
spicata produced in Greece were betapinene,
myrcene 1,8 cineole, dihydrocarvone and carvone. In
addition, [38] reported that, the pulegone,
menthofuran and menthyl acetate amounts were
lower in the oils of all mints. Essential oils for
spearmint under soilless and soil cultivation methods
showed richness in pulegone and 1,8cineole, which
are the major compounds. Pulegone are usually
found in high amounts in flowers [4] but in our
study, they are found in high concentration in leaves.
In addition to variation in essential oils concentration
from different part of plant, the different
geographical origin shows variation in essential oils
contents, which the major component was menthol,
menthyl acetate and menthone in Serbia by [42]. In
other study in Italy, the main components were

Adv. Environ. Biol., 7(5): 902-910, 2013
menthol, menthyl acetate and menthonfuran for
spearmint plants. In addition, [7] reported that
menthanol and menthone, which are the major
compounds of the essential oils, contents for
spearmint from Iran. [45] Reported that the main
component pulegone and other oxygenated
monoterpene, 1,8-cineole also showed variation in
the different ecologies. Pulegone is also the major
component in some wild Mentha species, which is
similar to other oxygenated monoterpenes. It is
biologically active and can act as an antifeedant [13].
There are some reports about the chemical
composition for spearmint plants that reported,
essential oil compositions of aromatic plants depend
on their the climatic factors, genetic structure and the
agronomical practices [40,44,20]. [16] Also, reported
about factors that influence on essential oils quantity
and quality like the most leaf area, size of epidermal
cells and number of oil glands per unit area which
was the most important factors that responsible for
higher essential oil contents of plant and biomass
yield. All reported studies related to essential oils
composition of genus Mentha in general was under
soil conditions and few studies were conducted about
the chemical composition of essential oils under
protected soilless conditions. M. spicata has
numerous chemical races throughout the world
[31,46]. Pulegone, an oxygenated monoterpene, is
the main component of mint oil produced from wild
plants. Pulegone-rich mint oil has been used as
emmenagogue and abortifacient in folk medicine
[24]. [46] Stated pulegone-rich chemotypes in wild
spearmint originated from Turkey. In this study,
Jordanian spearmint was rich in pulegone and 1,8
cineole and it is attributable to a new chemotypes for
Jordanian mint. Dried product quality entirely
depends on different unit operations involved in
drying process. Drying process should be undertaken
in closed equipment to improve the quality of the
product [18]. Drying methods, the other reasons for
variation in chemical compositions of essential oil of
these compounds, due to the influence by drying
methods. Air –dry method was suitable for samples
that collected from spearmint plants under open field
conditions due to low moisture content, which is
lower in comparison to that samples which collected
under soilless condition which that have higher
moisture content. During air-dry method at room
temperature 30°C, dark brown yellow Splatter was
appeared on leaves were collected under soilless.
Moreover, under soil condition no Splatter was
appeared on and still green color. Leaves drying
process for agricultural products correlates moisture
content of the material at exposure to a constant
relative humidity and temperature condition and
drying parameters [34,47].
Phyto-chemicals are known to exhibit several
health beneficial activities such as antioxidant, anti-
inflammatory, antitumor, and antimicrobial [25, 39,
33]. Spearmint plant under protected soilless
907
conditions have a high moisture content with ranged
(74.60 to 80.03 moisture %) than that spearmint
under soil-based cultivation and the moisture content
(56.25 to 68.68 of moisture %). Drying might have
accelerated more bound phenolic compounds
releasing from the breakdown of cellular constituents
[11, 12]. However, the air-drying temperature
method might be the reason for the lowest phenolic,
flavonods contents, and antioxidant activity of
spearmint under soilless culture conditions.
Spearmint under soilless culture conditions has more
moisture content. The effects of drying process on
the phenolic substances of foods were studied before.
Some of them have reported that phenolics decreases
[3, 50]. Total phenolic content for spearmint was
significantly higher under open field condition than
that under protected soilless conditions. In addition,
Total flavonoids of spearmint plants under soil
cultivation were higher than under soilless
cultivation but not significant. Spearmint have a
great attention is given to research of the quantity
and activity of antioxidants in leaves part;
Antioxidants are biologically active substances,
which remove excessive free radicals, decreasing the
lipid oxidation [14]. Antioxidant activity for
spearmint plants was highly significant under open
field conditions than that under protected soilless
conditions. [37] Reported that the M. spicata oil
exhibited radical scavenging activity with the IC50
as 87.89 μg/ml. The air-drying methods was effaced
on biological activities of spearmint that harvested
under soilless conditions, for explain this results,
during dry process under room temperature at 30°C
the dark brown color appears on the samples of
plants and that may be effected on the content of
antioxidant, total phenols as well as flavoniods.
Moreover, the dark brown color was not appearing
on the samples during the air dry process for
spearmint under soil based conditions. [36] Reported
during drying process, many compounds, which are
dragged to the leaf surface by the evaporating water,
which are lost. In this study, spearmint under soilless
culture has high moisture content and the air-drying
process at room temperature 30°C may be lost these
compounds during the dried stage before analyzed.
The air-dry method was not suitable for spearmint
plants production under soilless conditions and can
be dry by freezing methods for preservation quality
and quantity of the essential oils. Mint belongs to the
Lamiaceae family of plants, which are known to
store their essential oils on or near the leaf surfaces
[36]. The method of drying usually has a significant
effect on the quality and quantity of the essential oils
from plants [5]. Differences in the harvest time,
environmental and cultivation conditions may
generate differences in the antioxidant capacity
between spearmint under soilless and open field [28].
The dry matter of spearmint under soilless conditions
was collected from five harvesting times during the
growing season. While, under open field, the dry

Adv. Environ. Biol., 7(5): 902-910, 2013
sample was collected from two harvesting times
during the growing season.
Moreover, spearmint in this study was cultivated
under open field, which exposed to more light hours
than under greenhouse conditions and the abiotic
factors may be affected on biological activities
content. [26] reported that the environmental
conditions such as light could play an important role
in increasing or reducing the synthesis and in the
accumulation of the essential oil in peltate trichome
glands of Lamiaceae species such as spearmint.
Conclusion:
The results obtained in this study support the
notion that essential oils and their chemical
compositions of spearmint strongly affected by
environmental conditions and agronomic
management practices. M. spicata grown under open
filed and protected soilless condition was rich in
essential oil, pulegone and 1,8 cineole content.
Cultivation of spearmint especially under soilless
conditions proved to be superior in both oil content
and quality, in terms of substantial contents of
pulegone. Pulegone and 1,8 cineole was the
dominant compound under both cultivation methods.
Results of this study suggest that soilless cultivation
methods should use for producing highest economic
amount of extracted essential oil and pulegone and
1,8 cineole for pharmaceutical, therapeutic and food
purposes.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge financial support from
the Deanship of Scientific Research, JUST, Irbid,
Jordan, and Mr. Mohammad Al-Omoush from the
Faculty of agriculture for his technical assistance.
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