Peppermint Pharmacognosy Pharmacoloy

1. Mentha pipertia

2.  Family:
Labiatae
 Botanical origin:
Mentha pipertia L
 English Name:
Peppermint
 Urdu Name:
Podina
 Parts used:
Leaves & Whole Plant

3. Chemical constituents
 Volatile oil
 Menthol
 Menthone
 Methyl acetate
 Cineole
 limonene
 Flavonoids
 Tannins
 Resins
 Azulene
 limonene

4. Mechanism of action
 Menthol act as calcium channel blocker.
 It affect the smooth muscles of vessels GIT or neuron
cells and heart.
 It blocks the calcium channels and prevent the influx
of calcium channel and leads to the relaxation of
smooth muscles.

5. Uses
 Reduces spasm and pain caused by endoscopy.
 In migraine headache.
 To treat nausea.
 To treat bad breath and reduce dental plaque.
 Azulene reduce inflammation and help to heal ulcer.
 It relaxes muscles of GIT and relieve colon spasm.
 Menthol kill bacteria and parasites.

6. Side effects
 Heart burn.
 Increase uterine contraction and causes abortion.
 Allergic reaction including mouth sores.
 Gastritis.
 Nervousness.

7. Contraindications
 It is not used during pregnancy and lactation.
 Contraindicated in people with digestive ulcer.
 Not used during intestinal diseases.
 Not recommended in Parkinson’s diseases.
 Not recommended for children as menthol cause
choking sensation.

8. Drug interaction
 Peppermint delayed the absorption of caffeine.
 It may influence metabolism of certain drugs such as
felodipine and simvastatin.
 When taken with antacids such as omeprazole, they
dissolve too quickly and causes heart burn and
nausea.

9. Dosage
 As infusion: Take 3 to 6 gram of peppermint leaves
in hot water and covered for ten minutes. Use trice a
day
 Capsules: take 0.6 ml of peppermint oil spit it into
three doses of 0.2 ml per day.
 In headache: 10% peppermint oil in ethanol solution
is applied across forehead repeated after 15 to 30
minutes.

10. References
 www.drug.com
 www.m.webmd.com
 www.druglib.com
 www.mybeststremedies.com
 www.botanical-online.com
 Monographs of unani medicine vol-1