Study Biochemistry of Mentha longifolia (L.) Huds.: A Review

The Mentha longifolia were found to be a rich source of phytochemical compounds like piperitone, piperitone oxide, piperitenone, pulegone, d-limonene, menthone, carvone, menthol, β -caryophyllene, 1,8-cineole, 5,7,4-trihydroxy-6,2,3-trimethoxyflavone, carvone, limonene, tripal, and oxathiane. Mentha longifolia possess antioxidant effect that could be attributed to the presence of phytosterosls, unsaturated fatty acids, phenolic compounds, and specific volatile constituents and antimicrobial and interfere in the treatment of many diseases.

Dzamic et al. [3] studied the M. longifolia in terms of its antioxidant and antifungal activity. They found that the constituents of the essential oils are about 35 chemical compounds. The highest compound was trans-dihydrocarvone (23.64%), and the lowest compound was cis-carveol and β-gurjunene (0.10%). As for minimal inhibitory (MIC) of M. longifolia essential oil (μl/ml), the values of some fungi were as follows: They also illustrate antioxidant activity of M. longifolia essential oil as shown in Figure 2.
Piperitone oxide and piperitenone oxide were the major components in the essential oil of M. longifolia from the middle Black Sea Region of Turkey [19].

Phytochemistry in other species of the Mentha L.
As for the other species of the genus Mentha, it was rich in some chemical compounds, and it has a large antimicrobial role, including the Mentha piperita L. rich in caffeine, p-coumaric, ferulic, and rosmarinic acids that have an anti-Staphylococcus aureus and antiproliferative activity against two cancerous cell lines (MDA-MB-231), breast carcinoma cell line, and (A375) human melanoma cell line [27].
Patil et al. [28] reported that Mentha piperita is rich in chemical compounds such as diterpenes, tannins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, and stimulants, alkalis, phenols, coumarin, and saponins. These compounds have high activity as a microbial antibody.
Authors [29][30][31] also recorded menthofuran as an aromatic oil that ranges between 11 and 70.5% of the total content of the Mentha aquatic.
The Mentha diemenica essential oil in Australia was neomenthyl acetate, pulegone, and menthone, while the essential oil of the same species from Canada had significantly higher amounts of menthone, isomenthone and pulegone [34].
Guedes et al. [35] found some chemical compounds in Mentha arvensis L. and M. piperita L. as shown in Figure 3.
The major component of essential oil in M. arvensis was menthol in the stem (78.16%), but it was (43.7%) in stolon (runner). Menthol is the major component of all the oils in M. arvensis, with the highest percentage in shoot stem oil (78.16%) and the lowest in stolon (runner) stem oil (43.7%). β-Caryophyllene oxide was
Fatty acids' content of the petroleum ether extracts of Mentha citrata oils (as percentage of total fatty acids) [20].  Table 4. GLC analysis of unsaponifiable matter Mentha citrata oils (as percentage of total unsaponifiable matter) [20].

Antioxidant activity of Mentha longifolia (Linnaeus) Hudson
Iqbal et al. [18] showed dichloromethane and methanol extracts of M. longifolia to exhibit excellent antioxidant activity.
The antioxidant activity of methanol extract of M. longifolia is studied by Vladimir-Knezevid et al. [37], which they reported the presence of rosmarinic acid in the dried plants. Rosmarinic acid was found in the highest amount in most of Mentha species [38].
The antioxidant activity of M. longifolia methanol extract has been investigated in Saudi Arabia [39]. Phytochemical compounds and antioxidant activity of M. longifolia were studied by [36]. Essential oils have a high free radical scavenging capacity. So M. longifolia essential oil represented as a safe antiseptic addition in antioxidant and pharmaceuticals [40][41][42][43].
The antioxidant activity of M. longifolia in study [20] could be ascribed to the total phenolic contents that have been determined in methanol extract, along with the essential oil.

Traditional indications of M. longifolia
Have been used as [22,25]

Conclusion
This review discusses the chemical constituent of Mentha longifolia and its antioxidant and antimicrobial effect and its role in alternative medicine in various regions of the world. Essential oils and other chemical compounds in plant are natural products, which have been used for several applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, agricultural, and bioactivity example stems, leaves, and flowers.
Mentha genus encompasses several species used at medical, industrial, and nutritional levels. Most species contain essential oils and phenolic compound such as M. longifolia, M. piperita, M. aquatic, M. cervina, M. diemenica, M. spicata, and M. arvensis rich in essential oils and other compounds show activities of antioxidant and antimicrobial, and their essential oils and their derived extracts used as natural food preservatives.
© 2020 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.