Asian Peppermint Oil
Asian peppermint oil is the trade name for the essential oil steam distilled from Mentha arvensis, the cornmint or Japanese mint, grown across China, India and other parts of monsoon Asia. It is distinguished from true peppermint oil, which comes from Mentha piperita, by a much higher menthol content and a correspondingly sharper, colder and less sweet aroma.
Crude arvensis oil runs 70 to 85 percent menthol and sets solid at room temperature, so the material traded as Asian peppermint oil is normally the dementholised or partially dementholised liquid carrying 40 to 60 percent menthol, along with menthone, isomenthone, neomenthol, menthyl acetate, limonene and small amounts of pulegone. Functionally it delivers cooling, a clean mint top and considerable aroma strength at low dosage.
Supply form is a clear colourless to pale yellow mobile liquid, lighter than water, with a strong penetrating minty odour. It dissolves in ethanol from about 70 percent upward, in propylene glycol and in fixed oils, and is essentially insoluble in water, so beverage use requires an emulsion or a solubilised system. The menthone fraction oxidises on long exposure to air and light, dulling the top note and deepening the colour, and part filled drums accelerate that change.
We source bulk Asian Peppermint Oil from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Anhui. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Essential oil
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Clear mobile liquid, free from sediment |
| Colour | Colourless to pale yellow |
| Odour | Strong, penetrating, cooling mint |
| Free menthol content | Not less than 50.0 percent |
| Menthone | 12.0 to 25.0 percent |
| Menthyl acetate | 1.0 to 6.0 percent |
| Pulegone | Not more than 1.0 percent |
| Specific gravity at 25 degrees Celsius | 0.888 to 0.908 |
| Refractive index at 20 degrees Celsius | 1.4560 to 1.4670 |
| Optical rotation at 20 degrees Celsius | minus 20 to minus 35 degrees |
| Solubility in 70 percent ethanol | Soluble in 3.5 volumes |
| Heavy metals as Pb | Not more than 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 2 mg/kg |
| Non volatile residue | Not more than 1.0 percent |
Common Markets Grades
The oil is graded principally on menthol content, with 45, 50 and 55 percent minimum being the common trading points, and on whether the terpene fraction has been removed. Terpeneless and partially terpeneless qualities are produced by vacuum fractionation to strip limonene and the other monoterpenes; they are stronger per unit dose, more soluble in dilute alcohol and slower to oxidise. Natural, crystallisable oil at full menthol strength is also traded, but it must be melted before use.
Beyond menthol level, buyers separate general flavour and fragrance grade from pharmacopoeial grade conforming to European or British pharmacopoeial requirements, and from pulegone controlled grade produced for markets that cap that constituent in finished food. Redistilled and decolourised qualities are offered where colour carry over matters, and the oil is stocked as dilutions in propylene glycol or ethanol and as spray dried encapsulates on modified starch for dry seasoning and instant powder work.
Applications
- Chewing gum and pressed mint tablets, where its cold, high menthol profile suits strong mint styles
- Toothpaste, mouthwash and dental floss flavours, usually in combination with spearmint and synthetic coolants
- Hard candy and lozenge flavours, including medicated cough drops
- Menthol tobacco casings and filter additives
- Topical balms, sports gels and inhalant rubs, where residual menthol provides the cooling counterirritant effect
- Mint syrups, cordials and flavoured waters, dosed through an emulsion because the oil is water insoluble
- Ice cream and dairy dessert flavours where a clean cold mint is wanted rather than a sweet one
- Household cleaners, air fresheners and personal care fragrances
- Feedstock for further crystallisation of natural menthol and for the isolation of menthone and terpeneless mint fractions
China Manufacturers of Asian Peppermint Oil
Top Asian Peppermint Oil manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States, cornmint oil and its dementholised fractions fall within the generally recognised as safe listing of essential oils, oleoresins and natural extractives in 21 CFR 182.20, and menthol carries a separate GRAS flavouring substance listing. The oils carry Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association GRAS status for flavour use, and menthol also appears in over the counter drug monographs for topical analgesic and antitussive products.
In the European Union the oil is a natural flavouring preparation from a food source, permitted under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008 without individual authorisation but subject to the general safety conditions and to the maximum levels that Regulation sets for pulegone and menthofuran in flavoured foods and beverages. Pharmacopoeial grades follow the European Pharmacopoeia monographs for mint oils. The Joint FAO WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has evaluated menthol and the related menthane derivatives as flavouring agents and raised no safety concern at the levels used in flavouring.
Manufacturing Process
Cornmint is cut at early flowering when menthol content peaks, wilted in the field for several hours to shed water, and charged into batch stills where direct steam strips the volatile oil from the herb. Vapour is condensed and the oil separated from the distillation water in a light phase separator, and the water is recycled back to the still to recover dissolved oxygenates. The crude oil at this stage is supersaturated in menthol.
It is then chilled in jacketed crystallisers to well below zero and centrifuged, removing part or all of the menthol as crystals. The liquid fraction is warmed, dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate or vacuum stripped of residual moisture, and rectified by fractional distillation under vacuum. Rectification removes colour and the heavy resinous tail and, in terpeneless grades, takes off the monoterpene head fraction. Menthol is then blended back or further removed to meet the contracted assay, and the oil is passed through a polishing filter, checked by gas chromatography, and filled under nitrogen into lined drums.
