Peppermint absolute

Cool mint, crushed green leaf, a candy-like touch. Fresh grassy and sweeter than the oil. A faint dry herbal base.

Peppermint absolute has no dedicated standard in the 51st Amendment of the IFRA Standards.

EU Regulation 2023/1545 added Mentha piperita oil and menthol to the fragrance allergen list. They must be labelled above 0.001 percent in leave-on or 0.01 percent in rinse-off products. Whether the absolute falls under the Mentha piperita oil entry should be confirmed with the supplier; menthol in the absolute must be counted in any case.

Store dark, sealed and cool.

Mentha × piperita is a natural hybrid of spearmint (Mentha spicata) and water mint (Mentha aquatica). It is propagated vegetatively. The United States, especially the north-western states, is a major growing region for peppermint oil.

Peppermint oil has its own page. Its main constituents are menthol and menthone, with menthyl acetate, menthofuran and 1,8-cineole. Proportions vary with region and cutting time; menthofuran usually rises as the plant flowers.

The absolute is made by extracting the leaf with a solvent to a concrete, then washing with ethanol, chilling, filtering waxes and removing the alcohol. It is often dark green from chlorophyll. Its odour gains a crushed leaf sweetness, closer to fresh leaves than the oil.

In perfumery, peppermint absolute is used at very low doses. It gives a cool green note for aromatic, fougère and tea structures. In flavours, the absolute gives a rounder mint taste.

Menthol was added to the EU fragrance allergen list in 2023. Because menthol forms a large share of the material, labelling is almost always needed in cosmetic use.