Medicinal Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of < em > Mentha spicata < /em >

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Apr 12;2022:7990508. doi: 10.1155/2022/7990508. eCollection 2022.ABSTRACTMentha spicata, also called Mentha viridis, is a medicinal plant of the Lamiaceae family characterized by its potency to synthesize and secret secondary metabolites, essentially essential oils. Different populations use the aerial parts of this plant for tea preparation, and this tisane has shown several effects, according to ethnopharmacological surveys carried out in different areas around the world. These effects are attributed to different compounds of M. spicata, in which their biological effects were recently proved experimentally. Pharmacological properties of M. spicata extracts and essential oils were investigated for different health benefits such as antioxidant, anticancer, antiparasitic, antimicrobial, and antidiabetic effects. In vitro and in vivo studies showed positives effects that could be certainly related to different bioactive compounds identified in M. spicata. Indeed, volatile compounds seem to be efficient in inhibiting different microbial agents such as bacteria, fungi, and parasites through several mechanisms. Moreover, M. spicata exhibited, according to some studies, promising antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer effects, which show its potential to be used as a source for identifying natural drugs against cellular oxidative stress and its related diseases. Importantly, toxicological investigations of M. spicata sh...
Source: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Source Type: research