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Water mint (Mentha aquatica) belongs to the Lamiaceae family. This variety grows naturally near water bodies, as the name suggests, and is also grown in summer cottages and gardens. Cultivated varieties are highly decorative, but serve not only to decorate the site. Water mint is successfully used in cooking, cosmetology, medicine.
Description of water mint
In nature, water or water mint is a common marsh plant. It easily takes root in summer cottages near artificial ponds. The natural appearance of water mint is low - from 30 to 50 cm. The leaves are oval in shape with pubescence, they turn slightly red in the sun. Small lilac flowers, gathered in globular inflorescences, appear from mid-July and attract bees.
Popular varieties include Moroccanish Mince - without characteristic hairs on erect stems, blooms in June. The leaves are more rounded than those of the wild species.
The cultivated varieties bred by breeders are distinguished by more powerful growth, the height of the shoots reaches 90 cm.
The use of water mint in cooking
Mint goes well with desserts, but also goes well with meats and vegetables. One of the most popular drinks with her is Mojito. To make a cocktail you will need:
- lime;
- 100 g fresh mint;
- 2 tsp Sahara;
- mineral sparkling water
- ice.
The leaves are pounded or crushed to exude juice. Lime is cut and squeezed into a glass, sugar, ice and mineral water are added.
What is the flavor of water mint
When rubbed, water mint leaves give off a characteristic odor. It has a refreshing, icy note of menthol, and is the most intense of all.
Where water mint is added
Mint is so popular that it's hard to imagine everyday life without it. A huge number of tastes and smells in cooking and perfumery are associated with it. Water mint also has beneficial properties and contraindications that few people know about.
Benefits of water mint
Mint has a strong bactericidal effect. When chewing its leaves, microbes in the mouth are destroyed. It contains ascorbic acid, flavonoids and tannins. Terpenes, which are part of peppermint essential oil, have anti-carcinogenic effects.
Useful properties of mint:
- antimicrobial;
- anti-inflammatory;
- sedative;
- antispasmodic;
- phytoncidal.
In large quantities, mint causes severe sweating, reduces concentration, does not allow you to fall asleep, so you need to use it in moderation. Studies by Ukrainian scientists have shown that the phytoncides secreted by this plant have antispasmodic properties. The mint aroma is useful for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system, hypertension.
The use of water mint in traditional and folk medicine
In scientific medicine, only horse mint and peppermint are used. They have the highest concentration of essential oil and menthol.
The use of water mint lies more in traditional medicine. It is as follows:
- Mint tea relieves nausea, I drink it in small sips. Can be used by pregnant women with the permission of a doctor. Peppermint tablets and lozenges can help with motion sickness.
- Mint helps to improve digestion, eliminate bloating, muscle cramps.
- The herb is effective for colds due to its anti-inflammatory properties. An aqueous solution of mint ether can be used to treat a room during an epidemic.
- A peppermint drink can help relieve migraines. For headaches, you can rub your temples with cooling essential oil.
- Due to the anti-inflammatory properties of mint, it is good to use it to treat inflammation of the skin and reduce itching, in case of problems with the oral cavity.
- Mint refreshes and strengthens the hair, makes it shiny, and reduces the appearance of dandruff. You can rinse your curls with a decoction of the herb or add essential peppermint oil to your shampoo.
- Mint also refreshes the skin of the face, reduces wrinkles, irritation, dryness and inflammation. You can freeze the mint broth and wipe your face with mint ice.
For the preparation of mint broth 1-2 tbsp. l. dried or fresh herbs are poured into 0.5 liters of boiling water. Simmer on minimum heat for 10 minutes. Cool, filter and use as directed.
Menthol causes the sphincter to expand between the esophagus and stomach. As a result, the contents are thrown into the esophagus, and heartburn begins. Therefore, mint is contraindicated for people prone to reflux esophagitis. It will worsen the condition and create great discomfort.
Landing rules
Water mint, a photo and description of which is familiar to many gardeners, reproduces well by seeds and vegetatively - by parts of rhizomes, cuttings. She prefers to grow in well-lit areas, but tolerates partial shade. It is advisable to plant the plant in loose soil so that the rhizome is more powerful and the leaf mass grows better. Mint is unpretentious to the qualitative composition of the soil, but it grows better on fertile loams and black soil.
Mint is planted in spring when the snow melts and the soil warms up. An adult bush is used to propagate an existing plantation. They dig it out, divide it into parts, and plant the cuttings in the right place. You can make a furrow and put the mint rhizome in one row. When setting up a mint plantation, the distance between the furrows is 40-60 cm. The planting depth is 8-10 cm. Already in the first year, you can get raw materials for mint teas and decoctions. Mint is also grown through seedlings, sowing seeds in pots. Young seedlings are transplanted into open ground in May.
Mint is a very aggressive plant, it quickly spreads over the site with the help of root suckers, so it is better to grow it in a basket and cut off the elongated shoots. You can install slate, plastic and other improvised restraints around mint beds, restraining the growth of bushes.
Features of growing and care
Watermint is a marsh plant that can grow in acidic, waterlogged soil. If she does not have the opportunity to receive moisture directly from the reservoir, abundant watering is required. On hot summer days, when there is no rain, you can water the mint every day - in the evenings or early in the morning.
Weeds that have grown between the shoots of water mint are pulled out by hand, the aisles are weeded. If you don't have time to weed, you can use mulch. It is used to fill the space around the mint bushes, due to which weeds do not grow, moisture is better retained in the soil and air permeability increases. Without mulch, water mint, if it does not grow in water, needs loosening so that the roots can get enough air.
Pests and diseases
Mint is unpretentious, it does not require special care. It is practically not affected by pests, rarely gets sick. Sometimes suffers from rust and powdery mildew.At the first signs of the disease, leaves clean of infection are immediately harvested, and the remaining plants are cut to the ground and burned.
When and how to collect water mint
Like many herbs of temperate latitudes, mint stops growing with the onset of cold weather, so in the summer it is harvested for future use until the next season. The plant is harvested in mid-summer, at the very beginning of flowering, when the concentration of essential oils is highest in the leaves. Later, the amount of nutrients in mint decreases. The stems are cut along with the inflorescence by one third of the height, then by autumn new shoots will grow and it will be possible to harvest another crop of spicy grass.
How to dry water mint properly
There are two options for harvesting dried herbs. The first involves drying only the leaves, the second - grinding together with the stems and flowers, and then drying in the shade.
When using an electric dryer, set the temperature to + 35 ... + 40 ° C. If the heat is more intense, the essential oils will evaporate, and you will not get a fragrant seasoning, but a bunch of hay. When dried naturally in air, mint is laid out in a thin layer in the shade, after washing well. For culinary purposes, dried leaves are used. They are taken with stems and flowers to prepare decoctions, which are added to baths, used to rinse hair for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.
Store dried mint in a cool dark place in tightly tied cloth bags, glass or plastic containers with lids.
Conclusion
Water mint is tasty, aromatic and healthy. This means that wellness can be combined with pleasure. The herb is grown in a garden or pot on a windowsill. Peppermint has beneficial properties, due to which it is used in medicine, cooking and cosmetology.
