FLAVOUR A N D F R A G R A N C E J O U R N A L , VOL.

1, 105-109 (1986)

Essential Oil from Mentha spicata L. (Spearmint) Cultivated

in Italy
Massimo Maffei*
lstituro di Botanica Speciale Veterinaria, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli 25, 10125 Turin, Italy

Arnaldo Codignola and Maurizio Fiewhi

Dipartimento di Biologia Vegetale, University of Turin, Viale Mattioli 25, 10125 Turin, Italy

A new strain of Mentha spicara (2n = 48) was introduced from Michigan (U.S.A.) into the Piedmont Valley
(Turin, Italy). It was found that the essential oil of this strain, which was obtained by steam distillation of plants in
full bloom, possessed a typical spearmint aroma. Analysis of the oil was performed using a combination of
capillary GC-MS. From the results it could be seen that the oil, which was carvone-rich, had a similar chemical
composition to other carvone-rich mints found growing spontaneously or cultivated in the Piedmont Valley, e.g.
Menrha aquatica x vin'dis F. Schultz (1 854) (sensu Fiori), Mentha bngifolia (L.) Huds var. candicans Crantz and
Menthn bngifolia (L.) Huds. var. crispa Ten. With the exception of M. longifolia var. candicans, the minor
components of the other oils were qualitatively similar; however, they varied quantitatively both in amounts of
oxygenated and non-oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, and in individual components.

KEY WORDS Essential oil Mentha spicara L Spearmint carvone Italian cultivation

INTRODUCTION plants of the same chemotype cultivated in the

Menrha spicata L. is generally characterized by
the presence of carvone.' In Europe the essential
oils obtained from this plant are used by the
flavour and fragrance industries. In spite of this,
the most important areas of cultivation for M.
spicata in order of importance are the U.S.A., the
U.S.S.R. and China. There is almost no culti-
vation in Europe. In Italy there are many, spon-
taneous or cultivated, carvone-rich mints found;
however they are not necessarily of the section
S p i c a t ~ e . ~These
" carvone-rich mints are only cul-
tivated to a very limited extent because of their
low yield and poor productivity. Furthermore
from a qualitative point of view the Italian
carvone-rich mints have a limonene/carvone ratio
unsuitable for industrial use.
For the introduction of a new carvone-rich mint
into Italy stolons of Mentha spicara originating
from Michigan (U.S.A.) were cultivated for a
number of years. Each year we verified that the
chromosome number was 2n = 48. The quali-
tative and quantitative data obtained from the oil
were compared with the data obtained from
U.S.A. Moreover we compared our results with
previously published data obtained from other
carvone-rich mints: Mentha aquatica x viridis F.
Schultz (1 854) (sensu Fiori), Menrha Iongifofia
(L.) Huds. var. candicans Crantz and Mentha
longifoh (L.) Huds. var. crispa Ten.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The plant material was collected from plants in
full bloom (July 1985) grown in test plots in the
University of Turin botanical gardens. The oils
were obtained by steam distillation. The essential
oils were analysed with a Carlo Erba 4160 gas
chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization
detector. Separation was done using a 30 m fused
silica column coated with Carbowax 20M.
The operating conditions were as follows:
injection temperature 230"C, hydrogen carrier
gas flow 1.5 ml min-', temperature programming
60°C(3 min)-180"C at 3°C min-'. The com-
pounds were identified using a Hewlett-Packard
5995 B GC-MS system with a 50 m fused silica

'Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

0882-5734/86/030105-05$05.00 Received 14 February I986

0 1986 by John Wiley and Sons, Ltd. Acceprrd I0 June 1986
1Oh M. MAFFEI, A. CODIGNOLA AND M. FlESCHl

column coated with Carbowax 20M. The helium
carrier gas flow rate was 1.5 ml min-'. The mass
spectra were obtained at 70 eV. The injector
temperature was 230°C and the ion source tem-
perature was 250°C.
RESULTS
Figure 1 shows the gas chromatogram of the
essential oil of Mentha spicata cultivated in Turin.
Figure 2 shows the gas chromatogram of the
essential oil directly obtained from the U.S.A.
samples. Table 1 gives the percentage compo-
sitions derived from the G C and from the literature
for Mentha aquatica x viridis F. Schultz (1854)
(sensu Fiori), Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. var.
candicans Crantz and Mentha longifolia (L). Huds.
var. crispa Ten. The yield of the fresh Turin
spearmint was 2.5 ml/kg. The main component
was carvone (39.13%), the content of which was
lower than that of other mints (44.7-70%). The
amount of limonene found (5.90%) was lower
than that found in U.S.A. spearmint and
M . aquatica x viridis oils, but higher than in the
other mints under discussion. In contrast, the
amount of l,&cineole (1.07%) was very similar to
that in M . longifolia var. candicans and U.S.A.

I-- _---
I . . -.
i- . --

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. . . . .

i --
1..- . . . . . . .
I

.! .! .. .
.
.
.
. I .

. . . . . . . . . . -

. .................... . . . . . ..... -

Fig. 1. Gas chromatogram of the essential oil of Menrha spicara L. cultivated in Turin. The peak numbers correspond to the
numbers of compounds listed in Table 1
 SPEARMINT ESSENTIAL OIL 107

i. - . _.
I
I '

t .
0 1

. .

. . .
. I

..........
....... _I_

.Lml
1I :
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....

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48 4,7763~4
41

I
4
, 1lj

Fig. 2. Gas chromatogram of the essential oil of Mentha spicaru L. cultivated in the U.S.A. The peak numbers correspond to the
numbers of compounds listed in Table 1

spearmint oils,, but was clearly lower than in the
other mint oils. The absence of trans- and cis-
dihydrocarvone in M. spicata oil originating from
the U.S.A. and of trans-dihydrocarvone in
M. spicata obtained in Turin is particularly sur-
prising. Considering the total monoterpene and
sesquiterpene composition (Table 2) we find that
for Mentha spicata cultivated in Turin:
1. The amount of monoterpenes found
(32.51%)is higher than in any of the other
carvone-rich mints. Like M. longifilia var.
candicans,it contains the highest proportion
of oxygenated compounds (91.97%) and the
smallest proportion of hydrocarbons
(8.03%).
2. The amount of sesquiterpenes found
(3.89%) is very similar to that in M.
aquatica x viridis (3.86%). It also contains
the highest amount of sesquiterpene hydro-
carbons and the lowest amount of oxygen-
ated sesquiterpenes of any of the carvone-
containing mints.
DISCUSSION
The data obtained show that the limonene/car-
vone ratio in M. spicata cultivated in Turin is very
similar to that of U.S. spearmint oil. According to
Hendriks and Van Os4 and Hefendehl and Mur-
ray' limonene is the precursor of carvone. The
genetic equality between M. spicata cultivated in
108 M. MAFFEI. A. C O D I G N O L A A N D M. FIESCHI

Table 1. Chemical compositions (%) of carvone-containing mint oils

Peak M.S. M.S. M.A. M.L. M.L.

no. Compound Turin U.S.A. x v. v. Ca. v. Cr.

1 a-thujene 0.03 0.72 0.47 0.49

2 a-pinene 0.22 0.24 0.08 0.07
3 p-pinene 0.33 0.68 1.06 1.05
4 sabinene 0.26 0.44 0.53 0.71
5 myrcene 1.11 1S O 1.89 0.91
6 limonene 5.90 11.40 23.35 0.35
7 1,8-cineole 1.07 1.41 9.02 5.65
9 a-terpinene 0.06 0.23 1.05 0.41
12 P-cymene 0.24 0.47 0.60 0.17
13 terpinolene 0.09 0.17 0.10 0.14
19 3-octanol 0.56 1.26 0.27 0.47
20 I-octen-3-01 0.12 0.93 0.25 0.18
- 4-thuyanol' 0.80 0.39 - 1.31
23 p- bourbonene 1.04 0.92 0.48 -
24 a-copaene 0.98 0.12 0.29 -
26 linalool 0.84 0.25 0.33 -
28 caryoph yllene 1.61 0.16 2.63 -
29 trans-dihydrocarvone - - 0.20 1.45
- terpinen-4-01 6.14 0.74 - 1.89
- cis-dihydrocarvone 3.14 - - 0.21
36 dihydrocarvyl acetate - 2.95 0.96 2.32
- Menthol - - - 1 .oo
37 pulegone - - - tr
38 a-terpineol 2.73 0.94 0.56 1.06
39 germacrene D 4.11 1.79 0.1 1 0.17
40 carvone 39.13 59.26 44.70 59.50
41 dih ydrocarveol 5.94 2.36 I .56 3.51
42 neoisodihydrocarveol 3.93 1.62 0.79 0.12
43 trans-carvyl acetate 5.90 0.72 0.99 0.76
46 trans-carveol 0.22 0.24 0.52 1.oo
47 cis-carveol 0.26 0.21 0.41 0.92
48 jasmone 0.26 0.1 1 0.46 0.36

M.A. x V. = Mentha aquatica x viridis; M.L. v. Ca. = Mentha longifolia var. candicans; M.L. v.
Cr. = Mentha longifolia var. crispa; M.S. Turin = Mentha spicata cultivated in Turin; M.S. U.S.A.
= Mentha spicata cultivated in the U.S.A. (Michigan).
tr = traces; 'also known as sabinene hydrate.

Table 2. Percentages of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes

M.S. M.S. M.L. M.A. M.L.

Compounds Turin U.S.A. v. Cr. x v. v. Ca.

Total monoterpenes 32.51 14.87 18.50 12.10 11.oo

Monoterpene hydrocarbons 8.03 29.90 32.70 47.80 -
Oxygenated monoterpenes 9 1.97 70.10 67.30 52.20 100.00

Total sesquiterpenes 3.89 1.31 0.36 3.82 -

Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons 93.30 91.60 - 88.10 -
Oxygenated sesquiterpenes 6.70 8.40 100.00 11.90 -

M.S. Turin = Mantha spicata cultivated in Turin; M.S. U.S.A. = Mentha spicata cultivated in the
U.S.A. (Michigan); M.L. v. Cr. = Mentha longifolia var. crispa; M.A. x V. = Mentha aquatica
x viridis; M.L. v. Ca. = Mentha longifolia var. candicans.
 SPEARMINT ESSENTIAL OIL
Turin and that originating from U.S.A., in spite of
the different environmental and cultural con-
ditions, allows the same quantitative conversion of
limonene to carvone. O n the contrary, M. spicara
cultivated in Turin shows a more intensive
conversion of carvone to its reduced derivatives
(i.e. cis-dihydrocarvone, dihydrocarveol, neo-
isodihydrocarveol, cis- and trans-carveol and
carvyl acetate). Considering the data relating to
the other mints, this could also be correlated to
particular environmental conditions. The unusual
absence of trans-dihydrocarvone in both spear-
mints leads us to think that these strains could be
similar to some of the chemotypes analysed by
Lawrence and Morton.6 At present our data do
not permit any hypothetical justification for the
surprising absence of cis-dihydrocarvone in the
U.S.A. spearmint oil. Moreover from a quali-
tative point of view there are many similarities
between one of the M. spicara (2n = 36)
chemotypes examined by Lawrence’ and the
chemotype tested in Turin. With regard to the
yield and productivity M. spicara shows a good
vegetative adaptation to the Turin area and gives,
in conformity with the weather, up to three har-
vests per season.
In conclusion we believe that M. spicara L. has
109
sufficient characteristics for a large-scale pro-
duction and employment. It is recommended that
for a useful economical cultivation of Menrha
spicata it is necessary to widen and differentiate the
cultural trials. Such a study might suggest the
possibility of individualizing the qualitative opti-
mal conditions.
Acknowledgements-The authors are grateful to Prof. Tom-
maso Sacco for help and for supplying the Michigan Menfha
spicara L. samples.
REFERENCES
1. B. M. Lawrence, ‘A study of the monoterpene inter-
relationship in the genus Mentha with special reference
to the origin of pulegone and menthofuran’, Ph D. Thesis,
Groningen, Groningen State University (1978).
2. T. Sacco, G. M. Nano and S. Scannerini,Allionia, 15, 23
(1969).
3. T. Sacco, F. Chialva and M. Gallino, Essenze Derivari
Agrurnari, 2-3, 133 (1982).
4. H. Hendriks and F. H. L. Van Os, Phyfochern., 15, 1127
(1976).
5 . F. W. Hefendehl and M. J. Murray,Lloydia, 39,39 (1976).
6. B. M. Lawrence and J. K. Morton, ‘Intraspecific differenti-
ation in the genus Mentho, Paper No. 16, Vlth Interna-
tional Essential Oil Congress, San Francisco (1974).