Distribution and Habitat: Throughout Brazil, China, Japan, India (northern state of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana)

Botany: A downy erect perennial herb with rootstock creeping along or just under the ground surface. Red, purple and green varieties are known.  Branches rigid, pubescent, 60-100 cm tall. Stem short, branched, with short hairs, dense, and black. 

• Leaves: Lanceolate to oblong, 3.7-10 cm long, sessile or shortly petiolated and hairy, toothed.
• Flowers: Arranged in cyme which are usually sessile or rarely pedunculate, purplish, minute. Calyx 2.5-3.0 mm long, narrowly deltoid, bell-shaped, with triangular, short teeth, as broad as long, acuminate.  Corolla is white to purple, 4-5 mm long, lined with hairs and hairy out side.
• Fruit: Nutlets are dry and smooth.

Properties: Carminative, expectorant, antifungal

Chemical constituent: 1-menthone, d and l iso-menthone, methyl acetate, camphene, caryophyllene, esters of formic, iso-valeric and caproic acids, ethyl carbinol, hexanol, cineole, 3-octanol, linalool, menthofuran, neo-menthol, piperitone, piperitone oxide, α-pinene,  β-pinene

Uses: It is used in diseases of liver and spleen, asthma, pains in the joints, jaundice and vomiting

Formulations: Ark-pudina and pudina-hara.

Agro-Technology:

Soil: Medium deep soil rich in humus 

Propagation: The plants propagated by runners, suckers, stolons, and through seedlings.  Multiplication through stolons is commercially practiced. These planting materials are prepared by fresh planting of rooted or tops of mint plant at a spacing of 30 x 15 cm in August. The ideal time for planting of menthol mint is second fortnight of January to February end. In later stage (March- April) planting of menthol mint by transplanting of seedling raised in nursery can be done. Before planting, the suckers may be treated with 0.2% solution of any contact fungicide like capton for two minutes. Stolons are planted in shallow furrow (7-10 cm deep) opened at 45-70 cm a part. After planting furrow are covered with soil. On an average 350 to 500 kg planting material are needed for one hectare of land. 

Manure and fertilizers: Farm yard manure @ 25 tones per hectare and a fertilizer dose comprising of 120 kg N, 50 kg P2O5 and 60 kg K2O per hectare is recommended.

Irrigation and drainage: Mentha crop requires considerable moisture throughout the growing season. Water logging should be avoided and adequate drainage should be provided during the standing crop. 

Interculture and weed control:Weeding is one of the intercultural operations.  Application of mentha spent or citronella waste is also helpful to suppress the weeds upto some extent. The weeds can also be controlled through the use of herbicides after 2-3 days of the planting.

Insect, pest and disease control: Plants are attacked by the diseases like wilt, rust, powdery mildew, leaf blight and stolon rot. These are also affected by the different kinds of insects viz. cutworms, termites, caterpillars, beetles, and leaf rollers.

Harvesting and distillation: The crop is planted during December to January will be ready for by second week of May. Second crop will be ready for harvesting sometimes in August. Third harvest also is taken in October.