RESUMO
Spearmint belongs to the genus Mentha in the family Labiatae (Lamiaceae), which is cultivated worldwide for its remarkable aroma and commercial value. The aromatic molecules of spearmint essential oil, including carvone, carveol, dihydrocarvone, dihydrocarveol and dihydrocarvyl acetate, have been widely used in the flavors and fragrances industry. Besides their traditional use, these aromatic molecules have attracted great interest in other application fields (e.g., medicine, agriculture, food, and beverages) especially due to their antimicrobial, antioxidant, insecticidal, antitumor, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic activities. This review presents the sources, properties, synthesis and application of spearmint aromatic molecules. Furthermore, this review focuses on the biological properties so far described for these compounds, their therapeutic effect on some diseases, and future directions of research. This review will, therefore, contribute to the rational and economic exploration of spearmint aromatic molecules as natural and safe alternative therapeutics.
Assuntos
Monoterpenos Cicloexânicos/farmacologia , Mentha spicata/química , Óleos Voláteis/química , Animais , Anti-Infecciosos/química , Anti-Infecciosos/farmacologia , Anti-Inflamatórios não Esteroides/química , Anti-Inflamatórios não Esteroides/farmacologia , Antineoplásicos Fitogênicos/química , Antineoplásicos Fitogênicos/farmacologia , Antioxidantes/química , Antioxidantes/metabolismo , Antioxidantes/farmacologia , Vias Biossintéticas , Fármacos do Sistema Nervoso Central/química , Fármacos do Sistema Nervoso Central/farmacologia , Monoterpenos Cicloexânicos/química , Monoterpenos Cicloexânicos/metabolismo , Monoterpenos Cicloexânicos/toxicidade , Humanos , Hipoglicemiantes/química , Hipoglicemiantes/farmacologia , Hipolipemiantes/química , Hipolipemiantes/farmacologia , Inseticidas , Substâncias Protetoras/química , Substâncias Protetoras/farmacologiaRESUMO
Mint oil is a key source of natural flavors with wide industrial applications. Two unbalanced polyploid cultivars named Native (Mentha Spicata L) and Scotch (M. × gracilis Sole) are the main producers of spearmint type oil, which is characterized by high levels of the monoterpenes (-)-carvone and (-)-limonene. These cultivars have been the backbone of spearmint oil production for decades, while breeding and improvement remained largely unexplored, in part, due to sterility in cultivated lines. Here we show that sexual breeding at the diploid level can be leveraged to develop new varieties that produce spearmint type oil, along with the improvement of other important traits. Using field trials and GC-FID oil analysis we characterized plant materials from a public germplasm repository and identified a diploid accession that exhibited 89.5% increase in oil yield, compared to the industry standard, and another that produces spearmint type oil. Spearmint-type oil was present at high frequency in a segregating F2 population (32/160) produced from these two accessions. Field-testing of ten of these F2 lines showed segregation for oil yield and confirmed the production of spearmint-type oil profiles. Two of these lines combined high yield and spearmint-type oil with acceptable analytic and sensory profiles. These results demonstrate that spearmint-type oil can be produced in a diploid background with high yield potential, providing a simpler genetic system for the development of improved spearmint varieties.