Essential oil composition and chemoarrays of menthol mint (<i>Mentha arvensis</i> L. f. <i>piperascens</i> Malinvaud ex. Holmes) cultivars

Abstract

Abstract The chemical composition of essential oils isolated from six different cultivars of corn mint grown at CIMAP Field Station, Pantnagar, were compared: menthol (77.5–89.3%) was the main constituent of all the cultivars, followed by menthone (0.3–7.9%) and isomenthone (3.7–6.1%). The oil of MAS‐1 cultivar contained the highest concentration of menthol (89.3%) but the lowest percentage of menthone (0.3%), while isomenthone was not detected. Although the compositions of the six oils were similar, quantitative differences in the concentration of some constituents was observed. Yield and quality appraisals in the study led to the identification of the cultivars Kosi, Himalaya and Damroo as the most potent genotypes for maintaining mint crop diversity and productivity stability. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.