Botanically name Mentha Arvensis. About 7,100 tons of cornmint oil (sometimes incorrectly called Chinese peppermint oil) are produced annually.
It is almost all converted into menthol (2,800 tons) and dementholized oil (4,300 tons). China accounts for around 65% of the world production and India accounts for most of the remainder.
Dried plants yield 2.5% oil by steam distillation. Cheap synthetic menthol has reduced the demand for cornmint oil into the main markets in the Unites States, Western Europe and Japan.
The major quantitative components of the dementholized oil are typically:
35% laevo- menthol (cooling, light, mint)
30% laevo-menthone (harsh, herbal, mint)
8% iso-menthone (harsh, herbal, mint)
5%limonene (weak light, citrus)
3% laevo-menthyl acetate (light, cedar, mint)
3% piperitone (herbal, mint)
1% octa-3-ol (herbal, oily)
Cornmint oil contains about 1% of pulegone (pennyroyal mint odor) which is suspected of being toxic. The raw oils are rectified to remove some of the front and back fractions.
Careful blending of fractions can reduce the characteristically harsh odor of cornmint oil but it still remains much less attractive than peppermint oil. Adulteration of cornmint oil is not a commercially attractive proposition.
Most cornmint oils are used to give a cheap peppermint flavor to a wide range of applications often blended with true peppermint oil. It is more frequently used in blended flavors than peppermint oil because of its price advantage.
Cornmint Oil
