Put Some Mint Terpenes In It

What is the first thing you do when you open a new bag of cannabis flower? You smell it! Cannabis consumers have always prioritized the products' smell, taste, and performance. Why should extracts be any different?

The smell, taste and performance of extracts are just as crucial as flower. Too long have Europeans suffered from bad-tasting extracts. The only reason European medical cannabis extracts taste so bad is that producers have failed to acknowledge consumer preferences and have limited knowledge of the actual processes of extraction. One basic solution? Just put some peppermint terpenes in it!

Peppermint Basics

Whether you believe terpenes increase the performance of cannabis products or not, at the very least, some terpene mixes and flavonoids improve the taste of these products. While mixing complex terpene formulations to enhance flavor and performance is possible, a good first-generation improvement to EU extracts can be achieved by simply adding basic peppermint to any extracted mix before going to more advanced formulations.  

What is Peppermint?

Mint typically contains the terpenes L-limonene, Alpha Pinene, Beta Pinene, Cineol, and Octanol, resulting in a compound that studies suggest can have antibacterial and antifungal properties. It is an excellent additive since most people enjoy the smell and taste of mint. In fact, many popular taste profiles begin with mint as a safe, accepted flavor.

Benefits of Peppermint

Peppermint, also known as Mentha Piperita L., has chemical and biological antioxidant properties. A 2019 study demonstrated that peppermint's highest cellular antioxidant activity occurred at a dose of 5 µg/mL (Wu et al., 2019).

Another study conducted in 2018 demonstrated the beneficial effects of peppermint in rats' kidneys and livers. This study showed that essential oils from mint at a dosage of 15 and 40 mg/kg significantly reduced stress parameters related to CCL4-induced oxidative stress. The study also observed increased antioxidant enzymes (Bellassoued et al., 2018).

Numerous studies also demonstrate peppermint’s anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal effects. Mint preparations have been shown to lower blood pressure and widen blood vessels, reducing the risks of cardiovascular disease (Saqib et al., 2022).

From the results of these studies, it’s clear that the advantages of using mint as an ingredient go well beyond great taste.

Why Do Crude Extracts Taste So Bad?

Cannabis extracts are notorious for having a bitter or generally unpleasant flavor. Plants that taste good are eaten before producing seeds and, therefore, fail to propagate. The trichomes, terpenes, and even some cannabinoids that cannabis plants produce are, in part, defense mechanisms the plant employs to avoid being eaten (Stack et al., 2023).

The cannabis plant is an expert in employing chemical defenses in response to various types of stress. Water, UV, mechanical, and pathogenic stress can all cause the plant to release different chemicals, most of which have little to no demonstrable medicinal value (Verma et al., 2016)

To avoid being eaten, cannabis plants generate a wide variety of compounds, including acids, sodium, chlorine, lipids, and volatile organic compounds like humulene (War et al., 2012). Many of these compounds exist solely to produce an unpleasant taste or smell to ward off predators. When the cannabis plant is processed, these compounds produce a poor taste with no current scientifically accepted benefit.

How to Improve the Taste of Medical Cannabis Extracts

A simple solution is to add mint!

For example, the pharmaceutical drug Sativex uses a small amount of mint — around a 6% ratio — to cover up the unpleasant taste of crude extract. Unfortunately, the product's number one complaint is still its taste, largely due to the oral spray formulation. Formulators can remove the bitter taste with a bit of purification and add terpenes and flavonoids from peppermint. If extracted correctly, much less peppermint extract — about 2% — is needed to create a pleasant taste.

Patients are demanding better performance and taste from their extracts, and adding a simple solution of mint terpenes will significantly improve the medication experience. A better-tasting medicine will likely increase patient medication compliance.

Additionally, terpenes have been used for centuries in herbal medicine applications to improve health. When in doubt, start by putting some mint terpenes in it!

Sources:

• Wu Z., Tan B., Liu Y., Dunn J., Martorell Guerola P., Tortajada M., Cao Z., Ji P. Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Properties of Essential Oils from Peppermint, Native Spearmint and Scotch Spearmint. Molecules. 2019;24:2825. doi: 10.3390/molecules24152825.

• Bellassoued, K., Ben Hsouna, A., Athmouni, K. et al. Protective effects of Mentha piperita L. leaf essential oil against CCl4 induced hepatic oxidative damage and renal failure in rats. Lipids Health Dis 17, 9 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12944-017-0645-9

• Saqib S., Ullah F., Naeem M., Younas M., Ayaz A., Ali S., Zaman W. Mentha: Nutritional and health attributes to treat various ailments including cardiovascular diseases. Molecules. 2022;27:6728. doi: 10.3390/molecules27196728.

• George M Stack, Stephen I Snyder, Jacob A Toth, Michael A Quade, Jamie L Crawford, John K McKay, John Nicholas Jackowetz, Ping Wang, Glenn Philippe, Julie L Hansen, Virginia M Moore, Jocelyn K C Rose, Lawrence B Smart, Cannabinoids function in defense against chewing herbivores in Cannabis sativa L., Horticulture Research, Volume 10, Issue 11, November 2023, uhad207, https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhad207

• Verma V, Ravindran P, Kumar PP. Plant hormone-mediated regulation of stress responses. BMC Plant Biol. 2016 Apr 14;16:86. doi: 10.1186/s12870-016-0771-y. PMID: 27079791; PMCID: PMC4831116.

• War AR, Paulraj MG, Ahmad T, Buhroo AA, Hussain B, Ignacimuthu S, Sharma HC. Mechanisms of plant defense against insect herbivores. Plant Signal Behav. 2012 Oct 1;7(10):1306-20. doi: 10.4161/psb.21663. Epub 2012 Aug 20. PMID: 22895106; PMCID: PMC3493419.