EFFECT OF MOISTURE CONTENT ON SPEARMINT (Mentha spicata var. viridis L.) OIL CONSTITUENTS
EL RASHEED AHMED SALIM *
Department of Food Industry, Industrial Research & Consultancy Centre, Ministry of Industry, Sudan.
ABU-BAKR ALI ABU-GOUKH
Department of Hort., Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
HASSAN EL-SUBIKI KHALID
Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Institute, National Centre for Research, MOST, Sudan.
GAFFAR MOHAMED EL HASSAN
Department of Hort., Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The experiment conducted to evaluate the effect of moisture content on spearmint oil on composition. Spearmint (Mentha spicata var. Viridis) plants harvested from fully mature plants. Three moisture levels of spearmint herb were investigated: freshly harvested plants (74.3% moisture), semi-dried over-night plants (48.2% moisture) and fully dried under shade for 5 days (3.6% moisture). Spearmint oil extracted using water distillation according British Pharmacopoeia technique. Oil composition was analyzed by GC/MS. The results indicated that spearmint oil contains 25 different constituents which varied greatly according to moisture status of the herb.
Keywords: Spearmint oil, moisture content, carvone, fresh and semi-dry, constituents