MENTHAPIPERITA LINN. AN INSIGHT INTO CURRENT RESEARCH ON PHYTOCHEMISTRY AND PHARMACOLOGY

Among the several plants, Mentha Piperita Linn, usually known as peppermint, is an important medicinal herb that belongs to the family called Laminaceae. It’s one of the earliest medicinal herb or species majorly used in food, medicines, and cosmetics. The leaf of this drug has been proven useful in relief of ordinary cold decreases the symptom of irritable bowel disease; digestive problems, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, flatulence, and dyspepsia. The herb is used as analgesic topically and helps to treat the minor headache. M. Piperita is in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list, but this herb has its own few side effects. The peppermint oil leads to very strongsense in heart or irritation in perennial region so that it’s contraindicated in patients who suffer from bile duct obstruction, inflammation in gall bladder, and sever damage in liver and precaution should be taken in patients with gastrointestinal tract (GIT) reflex. Menthol and their derivatives are not used directly under the nose of small children and infants due to the risk of apnea.Theresult of the phytochemical screening revealed that the leave extract contained tannin, steroids, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenols and cardiac glycosides while anthraquinones and saponins were not determined.

Keywords: Mentha Piperita, Peppermint, Phytoconstituents, Medicinal benefits, Pharmacological activity.