Overview
This Russian study measured elemental impurities in peppermint leaves and peppermint-based teas, supplements, oils, and tinctures. It is useful for herbal-infusion and botanical-supplement context because it distinguishes less-processed dry products from deeply processed oils and tinctures.
Key numbers
- Dry peppermint leaves contained Al 75-523 mg/kg, V 0.54-1.04 mg/kg, Cr 1.01-2.02 mg/kg, Mn 16.5-58.7 mg/kg, and Fe 132-406 mg/kg.
- Dry peppermint teas and supplements contained Al 281-4258 mg/kg, V 0.75-9.25 mg/kg, Cr 1.25-9.52 mg/kg, Mn 61.4-115 mg/kg, and Fe 291-3119 mg/kg.
- Deeply processed oils and tincture had lower ranges than leaves for several elements: Al 0.25-0.75 mg/kg, Cr 0.75-1.56 mg/kg, Ni 0.00-1.75 mg/kg, Cu 0.54-1.25 mg/kg, Zn 0.75-13.3 mg/kg, Sr 0.13-0.31 mg/kg, and Ba 0.08-0.16 mg/kg.
- The comparison leaf ranges for those same elements were Al 75-523 mg/kg, Cr 1.01-2.02 mg/kg, Ni 0.25-6.56 mg/kg, Cu 0.00-7.28 mg/kg, Zn 13.8-42.8 mg/kg, Sr 35.8-82.4 mg/kg, and Ba 0.00-30.9 mg/kg.
- The authors state that arsenic exceeded Russian pharmacopoeia/SanPiN norms in some herbal preparations and supplements, while teas did not exceed the 1.0 mg/kg tea standard.
Methods
The study covers peppermint raw herb and processed peppermint products. It reports product-form ranges rather than a single pooled mint value, which matters for routing between herbal teas, supplements, oils, and tinctures.
Implications
The source supports herbal-infusion and botanical-supplement evidence gaps, especially for aluminum, chromium, nickel, copper, zinc, and arsenic context in peppermint products. It should preserve product form because dry teas/supplements and oils/tinctures show very different concentrations.
Related evidence
- Tea
- Herbal/Botanical Infusions
- Ingredient class — botanicals/herbs/traditional formulas
- Oral liquids: tinctures/drops
- Arsenic, Total
- Chromium
- Nickel
- Aluminum
Update history
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