<i>Mentha</i> Essential Oils: Unraveling Chemotype-Dependent Biosynthesis and Assessing Evidence for Health-Promoting Activities.

ABSTRACT: Mentha essential oils (EOs), renowned for their distinctive aromas and diverse biological activities, represent a key focus in phytochemical and pharmacological research. While numerous reviews have documented the general properties of mint EOs, a systematic and critical synthesis of recent advances linking chemotypic diversity to biosynthetic mechanisms and evidence-based health benefits remains lacking. This review aims to address this gap by comprehensively analyzing the structural variability of EOs across major Mentha species, elucidating the chemotype-dependent enzymatic and genetic regulation within the plastidial methylerythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway, and evaluating preclinical and clinical evidence supporting their health-promoting activities, including antimicrob

SUBMITTER: Yu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12567415 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature