Peppermint, English

Mentha piperita Mitcham

Chemotype: menthol / menthyl acetate / menthone type

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PLANT PART: leaves
EXTRACTION: steam distillation
AROMA NOTE: top

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What’s inside this oil?

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FOLLOW YOUR SENSES

Aroma & character

A closer look at this oil's scent, strength, and staying power.

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Aroma intensity: 80 / 100

Soft & subtleBold & expressive

Note layer: top

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A LITTLE CARE GOES A LONG WAY

Using it thoughtfully

Read the full safety context before bringing this oil into your routine.

Cited dermal maximum · leave-on: 5.4%
Phototoxicity: Not flagged in this profile
Oxidation risk: low

A cited maximum is a limit, not a suggested dilution. Missing restrictions do not establish safety.

No phototoxic restriction was identified for peppermint oil in the reviewed public references.

Contraindications & cautions

minorAromaWeb cites Tisserand and Young as recommending peppermint oil be avoided in cases of cardiac fibrillation.
minorDo not apply peppermint oil near the face of infants or young children because menthol may negatively affect breathing.

Read the complete safety guide

Explore measured chemistry from supplier batches

A supplier report describes a particular sample. Open this workspace to investigate measured constituents and their original documents.

THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SCENT

Inside the oil

9 constituents

An oil's character comes from its natural chemical composition. Explore each constituent to understand the connections.

About this composition

The English designation is anchored to live supplier pages for Mentha piperita Mitcham oil grown and distilled in the UK. Publicly attributable English composition data is much scarcer than generic peppermint GC lots, so the constituent ranges below use the directly cited historical English peppermint figures reproduced in the Eastern Slovakia paper, with pct_typical values taken as cited-range midpoints where no distinct typical value was published.

Constituent	Typical amount	Reported range	Chemical family	Source
menthol	64.5%	63–66%	monoterpene alcohol	View source Essential oil of peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) from fields in Eastern Slovakia https://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/hor/2004/01/07.pdf (page 5, lines 279-280: English oil of peppermint contained 63 to 66% of total menthol; pct_typical set to midpoint 64.5 because no distinct typical value published)
menthyl acetate	8.5%	3–14%	monoterpene ester	View source Essential oil of peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) from fields in Eastern Slovakia https://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/hor/2004/01/07.pdf (page 5, lines 279-280: English oil of peppermint contained 3 to 14% of menthol in the form of ester; pct_typical set to midpoint 8.5 because no distinct typical value published)
menthone	10%	9–11%	monoterpene ketone	View source Essential oil of peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) from fields in Eastern Slovakia https://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/hor/2004/01/07.pdf (page 5, lines 279-280: English oil of peppermint contained 9 to 11% of menthone; pct_typical set to midpoint 10 because no distinct typical value published)
1,8-Cineole	2.91%	—	monoterpene oxide	View source Mentha x piperita EO GC-MS, China, Molecules 2014 (PMC4262447) Table 1: 1,8-cineole 2.91, caryophyllene 2.52, piperitone 2.31, limonene 1.76, germacrene 1.13, b-pinene 0.46; 1,8-cineole also 6.06% in Moroccan EO (PMC5527698)
(E)-beta-Caryophyllene	2.52%	—	sesquiterpene hydrocarbon	View source Mentha x piperita EO GC-MS, China, Molecules 2014 (PMC4262447) Table 1: 1,8-cineole 2.91, caryophyllene 2.52, piperitone 2.31, limonene 1.76, germacrene 1.13, b-pinene 0.46; 1,8-cineole also 6.06% in Moroccan EO (PMC5527698)
Piperitone	2.31%	—	monoterpene ketone	View source Mentha x piperita EO GC-MS, China, Molecules 2014 (PMC4262447) Table 1: 1,8-cineole 2.91, caryophyllene 2.52, piperitone 2.31, limonene 1.76, germacrene 1.13, b-pinene 0.46; 1,8-cineole also 6.06% in Moroccan EO (PMC5527698)
Limonene	1.76%	—	monoterpene hydrocarbon	View source Mentha x piperita EO GC-MS, China, Molecules 2014 (PMC4262447) Table 1: 1,8-cineole 2.91, caryophyllene 2.52, piperitone 2.31, limonene 1.76, germacrene 1.13, b-pinene 0.46; 1,8-cineole also 6.06% in Moroccan EO (PMC5527698)
Germacrene D	1.13%	—	sesquiterpene hydrocarbon	View source Mentha x piperita EO GC-MS, China, Molecules 2014 (PMC4262447) Table 1: 1,8-cineole 2.91, caryophyllene 2.52, piperitone 2.31, limonene 1.76, germacrene 1.13, b-pinene 0.46; 1,8-cineole also 6.06% in Moroccan EO (PMC5527698)
beta-Pinene	0.46%	—	monoterpene hydrocarbon	View source Mentha x piperita EO GC-MS, China, Molecules 2014 (PMC4262447) Table 1: 1,8-cineole 2.91, caryophyllene 2.52, piperitone 2.31, limonene 1.76, germacrene 1.13, b-pinene 0.46; 1,8-cineole also 6.06% in Moroccan EO (PMC5527698)

Profile source: Peppermint (English) Essential Oil 10ml; O&3 Peppermint English, Essential Oil; Peppermint Essential Oil: Benefits, Uses & Insights; Essential oil of peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.) from fields in Eastern Slovakia · https://uk.nyrorganic.com/shop/eileenburns/area/shop-online/category/essential-oils/product/2172/peppermint-english-essential-oil-10ml/ ; https://www.knowde.com/stores/o-3/products/o-3-peppermint-english-essential-oil ; https://www.aromaweb.com/essential-oils/peppermint-essential-oil.php ; https://hortsci.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/hor/2004/01/07.pdf

What we're still learning · 3 data gaps

Good decisions start with knowing what is — and isn't — in the evidence.

No directly viewable public UK-lot GC certificate was located in this pass for English peppermint essential oil, so the composition remains limited to the public English historical percentages that could be attributed specifically to English peppermint.
Odor intensity 80 is a normalization of AromaWeb's 'Medium - Strong' strength band rather than a source-native numeric scale.
No public source reviewed in this pass published direct volatility-rate or tenacity-hour values for English peppermint essential oil.