How to Make Peppermint Essential Oil: A Detailed Guide to Home Extraction Methods

Peppermint is one of the commonly used and important traditional aromatic plants in China, widely cultivated. The upper part of the peppermint plant can be used as medicine, and the whole plant has a strong, cool fragrance. It is a widely distributed, highly adaptable plant with a rich, distinctive aromatic scent. Its suitable growing temperature is 20-28°C. In early spring, when the temperature reaches 5-8°C, the rhizomes begin to sprout. In winter, it can overwinter safely in areas with temperatures of -30 to -20°C, and its root system in the soil will not be frostbitten. It has tenacious vitality.

How is peppermint essential oil made, and how is the oil extracted from peppermint at home?

The method for extracting peppermint essential oil is characterized by comprising the following steps:

(1) Wash the peppermint and cut it into small sections, then spread it flat in a cool, shaded place at a thickness of 2 cm. Spray the surface once daily with a 0.3% by volume sodium glycerophosphate solution at a rate of 100-120 g/sq m, and turn the peppermint pieces over;

(2) After 4 days, place the peppermint pieces in a grinder and grind them, then pass through a 60-70 mesh sieve;

(3) Place the dry powder in a vacuum freeze dryer and dry until no moisture remains;

(4) Place the peppermint dry powder into a hexane solution weighing 3-4 times its weight, and add sodium dodecyl lysinate at 0.01-0.03 times the weight of the hexane;

(5) At 50°C, use ultrasonic-assisted extraction. After 60-70 min, filter the extract, and recover the organic solvent from the filtrate under reduced pressure to obtain peppermint essential oil.