A Comparative Analysis of the Chemical Composition, Anti-Inflammatory, and Antinociceptive Effects of the Essential Oils from Three Species of Mentha Cultivated in Romania

Abstract

This work was aimed at correlating the chemotype of three Mentha species cultivated in Romania with an in vivo study of the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects of essential oils. The selected species were Mentha piperita L. var. pallescens (white peppermint), Mentha spicata L. subsp. crispata (spearmint), and Mentha suaveolens Ehrh. (pineapple mint). Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oils isolated from the selected Mentha species was performed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The anti-inflammatory activity of the essential oils was determined by the rat paw edema test induced by λ-carrageenan. The antinociceptive effect of the essential oils was evaluated by the writhing test in mice, using 1% (v/v) acetic acid solution administered intraperitonealy and by the hot plate test in mice. The results showed a menthol chemotype for M. piperita pallescens, a carvone chemotype for M. spicata, and a piperitenone oxide chemotype for M. suaveolens. The essential oil from M. spicata L. (EOMSP) produced statistically significant and dose-dependent anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects.

Ethnomedicinal, phytochemical and pharmacological updates on Peppermint (Mentha × piperita L.)—A review

“…The essential oil and extract of M. × piperita were evaluated for their in vitro and in vivo anti‐inflammatory and anti‐nociceptive activities (Mogosan et al, ; Sun et al, ). For the determination of anti‐nociceptive activity in mice, the inhibitory effects of the oils on acetic acid‐induced writhing and hot plate test were surveyed, while to assess the anti‐inflammatory characteristics of the two EOs, carrageenan‐induced hind paw oedema model, croton oil‐induced ear oedema and in vitro ‐ nitric oxide (NO) production were utilized as a widely used screening protocol.…”

Potential of Medicinal Use of Essential Oils from Aromatic Plants

“…The knowledge of the chemical composition and the chemootype of the aromatic plants are important factors in studies of the anti-inflammatory activity, since the concentration of the compounds diverge due to this biological variation, in this way researchers have evaluated both aspects [88,89]. Evaluating the specific constituents of a particular essential oil may help in understanding the performance of these compounds in the anti-inflammatory action [90].…”

Molecular identification of Lavendula dentata L., Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds. and Mentha × piperita L. by DNA barcodes

“…Recent studies proved the antiviral, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer characteristics as therapeutic activities for the extracts derived from Mentha species (Anwar et al, 2017). Hybridization and polyploidy play an important role in the speciation of the members belonging to genus Mentha such as M. × piperita that is considered as a hybrid of the two mints; M. spicata and M. aquatica (Mogosan et al, 2017) making them good targets for molecular studies.…”