is a hybrid of M. spicata L. (spearmint) and Mentha aquatic.
It was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians and documented in
the Icelandic pharmacopoeia of the thirteenth century. It is
widely grown in temperate areas of the world, particularly
in Europe, North America and North Africa but nowadays
cultivated throughout all regions of the world. The medicinal
parts are the essential oil extracted from the aerial parts of
the flowering plant, the dried leaves, the fresh flowering plant
and the whole plant. M. piperita is a perennial 50–90 cm high,
normally quadrangular and a prototypical member of the
mint family (Briggs, 1993; The Wealth of India, 1962). The
usually branched stems are often purplish or tinged violet
but sometimes they are gray-tomentose. The dark or light
green leaves are short-petioled, oblong-ovate and serrate with