Spearmint

Research corpus coverage

Chemistry notes

• CHEMISTRY: Relevant reported constituents include carvone; limonene; rosmarinic acid; constituent presence alone does not establish clinical efficacy.

Traditional / historical use

Documented traditional use — not a claim of established efficacy.

• TRADITIONAL: Spearmint has been used for digestion; nausea; hirsutism; this records historical/traditional use and does not establish efficacy.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph · WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants

Modern evidence

• EVIDENCE: For the major use set (digestion; nausea; hirsutism), the evidence assessment is limited/mixed: Limited small trials for hirsutism and digestive symptoms; insufficient certainty.

  MODERATE · randomized controlled trial · WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants

  Mixed findings, product heterogeneity, or indirect evidence are preserved in the detailed profile.

Forms used traditionally

A listed form does not imply it suits every plant part, or that one preparation is interchangeable with another — see the plant’s own notes below.

Cats & dogs

• Caution

  ASPCA identifies mint as Mentha sp. (family Lamiaceae) and designates it toxic to cats and dogs; large ingestions may cause vomiting and diarrhea. The page does not specifically identify spearmint.

  Intrinsic toxicity · OTHER · Mint; preparation and concentration not specified; essential oils are listed as the toxic constituent, without evidence about essential-oil products. · HIGH · poison_control_database · Toxic and Non-toxic Plants: Mint - ASPCA

Additional safety notes (general, unstructured)

Free-text safety notes carried from their source — not broken out by species, route, or hazard type, and not equivalent to the structured records above. Each note names the kind of source it came from.

• SAFETY: Major issues include Allergy; concentrated oil irritant. Contraindications/cautions include Known mint allergy.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

• SAFETY: Clinically relevant interaction concerns include Potential CYP interactions; clinical relevance uncertain.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph · EMA European Union herbal monographs and list entries

  Some interactions are theoretical or based on case reports/pharmacokinetics rather than outcome trials.

• SAFETY: Pregnancy/lactation reference: Food use common; medicinal-dose data insufficient.

  MODERATE · regulatory monograph or evidence synthesis · WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants

  Absence of evidence is not evidence of safety.

• ASPCA identifies mint as Mentha sp. (family Lamiaceae) and designates it toxic to cats and dogs; large ingestions may cause vomiting and diarrhea. The page does not specifically identify spearmint.

  HIGH · poison_control_database · Toxic and Non-toxic Plants: Mint - ASPCA

  The page names only Mentha sp., so attribution to Mentha spicata is not species-specific.

Taxonomic identity note

• Spearmint is treated here as Mentha spicata L. in the family Lamiaceae; recorded older names include Mentha viridis L..