Aqua Menthae Viridis. U. S., Br.
Aqua Menthae Viridis. U. S., Br.
Spearmint Water. Aq. Menth. Vir.
Related entries: Oil of Spearmint - Peppermint Water
Eau de Menthe verte, Fr.; Römisch-Minzwasser, G.; Agua de yerba buena, Sp.
"Oil of Spearmint, two mils [or 32 minims]; Purified Talc, fifteen grammes [or 231 grains]; Distilled Water, recently boiled, a sufficient quantity, to make one thousand mils [or 33 fluidounces, 6 ½ fluidrachms]. Triturate the Oil of Spearmint with the Purified Talc, add the recently boiled Distilled Water gradually with continued trituration, filter, and pass the filtrate through the filter repeatedly until the Spearmint Water is perfectly clear." U. S.
"Oil of Spearmint, 1 millilitre; Water, 1500 millilitres. Distil one thousand millilitres." Br.
"This Water may be prepared by triturating oil of spearmint with twice its weight of calcium phosphate and five hundred times its volume of distilled water and filtering the mixture. In tropical and subtropical parts of the Empire this Water may be used in place of the corresponding Water of the text of the British Pharmacopoeia." Br.
There would seem to be no good reason for distilling the mint waters from their respective volatile oils, as directed in the British processes. If the fresh plants were available, a good source for a distilled water could be provided; but if a volatile oil must be used with its uncertainty of freshness always present, the quicker process of the U. S. P. is greatly preferable.
Uses.—Spearmint water is used solely as a vehicle. Its flavor to most persons is inferior to that of peppermint, and it lacks the characteristic cooling effect of the menthol which is found in peppermint.
Off. Prep.—Liquor Sodae et Menthae, N. F.
