What is the difference between Spearmint and Peppermint?!
What is the difference between Spearmint and Peppermint?
Answers:
Peppermint (scientific name ''Mentha piperita L."), also called American mint, brandy mint, lamb mint, and lammint, is originally from Europe. It has leaves with serrated edges that are about 1 or 2 inches long and about twice as long as they are wide, sprouting from stems with a square cross-section.
Spearmint (scientific name ''Mentha spicata L."), also called mint, brown mint, garden mint, lamb mint, mackerel mint, Our Lady's mint, and sage of Bethlehem, is also native to Europe. It is similar in appearance to peppermint, but the leaves are usually stemless.
If you manage to see the plants in bloom, spearmint flowers form clusters that are narrower and more pointed than those of peppermint.
The two plants have distinct tastes, with spearmint's coming mainly from a compound called carvone, which is relatively light and sweet in flavor.
Peppermint owes most of its taste to another substance, menthol, which has a mild anesthetic and cooling effect, making it especially valuable in medicines. Peppermint oil can also be topically applied to help ease tension headaches, can be consumed to help ease altitude sickness, and can act as a decongestant.
Spearmint oil is of some use in repelling mosquitoes and is often used for its taste rather than for its medical properties, although it can reduce gastric gas.
Oils of both plants have a long history of medical use going back to Egypt and India 5,000 years ago.
It might amuse you to know that the word ''mint" comes from Greek mythology. The idea is that Hades, the god of the Underworld, got his wife, Persephone, upset by having an affair with a nymph named Minthe. For revenge, Persephone turned Minthe into a sweet herb.
Traditionally, mint leaves were placed around the dead at Greek burials as a reminder to Hades (and perhaps to help cover up nasty smells).
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Source(s):
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_...
They are simply two different members of the mint family, and have different flavors.
Both are members of the mint family, the only difference is in their flavor. I find peppermint to be quite strong, your taste may differ.
peppermint has a slightly sharper bite to it
spearmint is more mellow