Mint - Meth

Use: Aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, including Meth sp., used as part of the green and flower plant beds that covered the graves; possible parallel use in daily life as aromatic, medicinal or insect repellent herbs, although this remains inferred more than directly demonstrated.

Evidence: The study on the flower coatings of Raqefet describes impressions of stems and leaves belonging mainly to Lamiaceae (mint family), with square stems and opposite leaves that could correspond both to Salvia like other mints and close relatives. The combined analysis of macroscopic impressions and dicotyledoneal phytolytes showed an exceptionally high density of leaves and stems in four tombs, interpreted as evidence that the Natufienses deposited large amounts of fresh aromatic plants as "flower beds" under the deceased. In its article, Nadel and colleagues explicitly point out that, in addition to Fruit salvia As a candidate sage, other local Lamiaceae (including mints) were considered and analysed morphologically and the phytolytes of these species enter the group of dicotyledoneas identified in the graves sediments.

Press releases and notes on the finding emphasize that plant impressions include "sage stems and other species of the mint family" and that the Natufienses "extended green plant beds in flower" into the graves before depositing the bodies. Although no specific species of Meth (as M. longifolia or M. spicata), the floristic context of Mount Carmelo makes the presence of wild mints of nearby and moist watercourses, integrated into the branches deposited in the graves, likely. From the olfactory point of view, this implies a funerary environment marked by mentholated, green and fresh notes of the mints, superposed to the driest and most acuphorate perfume of the salvias and other Lamiaceae.
Fast source:
Nadel, Dani, et al. "Earliest Floral Grave Lining from 13,700-11,700-y-Old Natufian Burials at Raqefet Cave, Mt. Carmel, Israel." PNAS 110, no. 29 (2013): 11774-79. [https: / / pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov / articles / PMC3718103 /]

In modern perfumery and aromatherapy, mints are used mainly through essential oils obtained by steam distillation of the air parts (leaves and florid sumities), as well as to a lesser extent by alcoholic extracts and supercritical CO. The essential oils of mint form a very important group within the commercial oils, highlighting those of pepperite mint (M. × piperite), Japanese mint (M. canadensis / M. arvensis) and peanut (M. spicata), each with a different chemical and olfactory profile.

In case of M. × piperitethe essential oil is characterized by high content of menthol and mentone, responsible for the refreshing effect and the intense smell of "classical" mint; M. spicata, the dominant component is carvone, which produces a softer, sweet and "chewy" aroma, without the extreme freshness of the menthol.

Main Aromatic Molecules
Essential Meth oils (generic profile)

The essential oils of Meth are dominated by monoterpenes and their oxygenated derivatives, with profiles that vary according to the species:

• In peppermint (M. × piperite), the key molecules are menthol (monoterpenic alcohol), menthone (monoterpenic ketone) and its isomers (isomentone, neomentol), responsible for the intense refreshing effect, penetrating aroma and slightly sweet facet of the mint.

• In peppermint (M. spicata), the dominant component is carvone (40-70% of essential oil), accompanied by lemonene, 1,8-cineol and other monoterpenes; this profile confers a sweet, green and "mint gum" aroma, with less cold freshness than the piperite.

• In field mints (M. arvensis, M. canadensis), oil is often so rich in menthol that it is used as a primary source of crystallized menthol for the pharmaceutical and personal care industry.

At the olfactory level, we can summarize that the mints combine green, herbal, sweet and refreshing notes, with a more or less dominant mentholed axis depending on the species.