2006-09-12 20:52:49 · 13 answers · asked by rocker_girl 4 in Food & Drink ➔ Other - Food & Drink
I don't think i can compete with Phoenixheat's answer which is pretty detailed but i'll answer anyway.
Put simply they are different plants. Obviously the flavour is different for each but essentially they are different varieties.
For a more specific definition try Wiki - It quotes:
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Mentha (mint) is a genus of about 25-30 species of flowering plants in the family Lamiaceae, with a subcosmopolitan distribution, seven from Australia, one in North America, and the others from Europe and Asia; several hybrids also occur.
According to Greek mythology, the plant was named after Minthe.
They are aromatic perennial herbs, growing to 10-120 cm tall, with wide-spreading underground rhizomes and erect, branched stems. The leaves are arranged in opposite pairs, simple oblong to lanceolate, often downy, and with a serrated margin. The flowers are produced in clusters ('verticils') on an erect spike, white to purple, the corolla two-lipped with four subequal lobes, the upper lobe usually the largest. The fruit is a small dry capsule containing 1-4 seeds.
2006-09-12 21:22:47 · answer #1 · answered by GravyG 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Spearmint Vs Mint
2016-11-03 05:58:17 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mint can be any mint. The difference between spearmint and peppermint is as follows:
Peppermint (scientific name ''Mentha piperita L."), also called American mint, brandy mint, lamb mint, and lammint, is originally from Europe. It has leaves with serrated edges that are about 1 or 2 inches long and about twice as long as they are wide, sprouting from stems with a square cross-section.
Spearmint (scientific name ''Mentha spicata L."), also called mint, brown mint, garden mint, lamb mint, mackerel mint, Our Lady's mint, and sage of Bethlehem, is also native to Europe. It is similar in appearance to peppermint, but the leaves are usually stemless.
If you manage to see the plants in bloom, spearmint flowers form clusters that are narrower and more pointed than those of peppermint.
The two plants have distinct tastes, with spearmint's coming mainly from a compound called carvone, which is relatively light and sweet in flavor.
Peppermint owes most of its taste to another substance, menthol, which has a mild anesthetic and cooling effect, making it especially valuable in medicines. Peppermint oil can also be topically applied to help ease tension headaches, can be consumed to help ease altitude sickness, and can act as a decongestant.
Spearmint oil is of some use in repelling mosquitoes and is often used for its taste rather than for its medical properties, although it can reduce gastric gas.
2006-09-12 20:58:19 · answer #3 · answered by phoenixheat 6 · 15⤊ 0⤋
mint extract could be any mint- peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, mixture of them or some artificial flavor. I'm always wary of "mint" because I'm allergic to spearmint.
2016-03-17 02:10:23 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well mint is short for spearmint or peppermint, so actually only 2 different mints, i think peppermint is more of a spicy mint, as spearmint is more of a tangy juicer mint
2006-09-12 21:26:14 · answer #5 · answered by FLeX_BoZaCK 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Thye all have different strengths of flavour. The spearmint i think is the hottest
2006-09-12 20:54:06 · answer #6 · answered by Scatty 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋
Mint And Peppermint are nice and Spearmint is disgusting!
2006-09-12 20:56:22 · answer #7 · answered by Rob S 3 · 1⤊ 6⤋
they're all different strenghths of mint
2006-09-12 20:57:12 · answer #8 · answered by kj 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well!!!! mint is mint, spearmint is made from spears and peppermint from peppers, think that clears it up!!!
2006-09-13 00:52:26 · answer #9 · answered by carol g 3 · 0⤊ 9⤋
They all smell and taste quite different
2006-09-12 22:17:28 · answer #10 · answered by holiday2408 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋