Indeed, different plant parts such as leaves, flowers and stems of this genus are frequently used in herbal medicine, teas or as additives in spice mixtures for various foods to offer aroma and flavor ( McKay and Blumberg, 2006). The taxon has a significant importance both commercial as well as medicinal. The genus Mentha is a very important taxon in the family Lamiaceae and includes 25–30 species that grow worldwide especially in the South Africa, Australia and temperate regions of Eurasia ( Dorman et al., 2003). These terpenes/essential oils have several applications in cosmetics, food industry, medication and perfumery. Most of the Lamiaceae plants are found to accumulate secondary metabolites such as terpenes/essential oils and other components, mainly in the epidermal glands of leaves, stems and reproductive structures. The family comprises of more than 232 genera and approximately 7200 species ( Harley et al., 2004). Labiatae) is endowed with several medicinal and aromatic plants. In the plant kingdom, family Lamiaceae (syn. Thus, antimicrobial and insecticidal properties of essential oils of Mentha species offer the prospect of using them as natural pesticides with a commercial value, having social acceptance due to its sustainability and being environment friendly. Reviewed literature revealed that, essential oils from different Mentha species possess potential antimicrobial activity against plant pathogens and have insecticidal activity against stored product insects. Reports of the researchers on chemical analysis of essential oils of Mentha species revealed that most of the oils being rich in pulegone, menthon, menthol, carvone, 1, 8-cineole, limonene and β-caryophyllene. Current review focuses on chemical composition of essential oils of some Mentha species from different geographical regions with their insecticidal (repellent, antifeedant, and ovicidal) and antimicrobial efficacies against bacterial, fungal plant pathogens and insects of stored products. Its major chemical components such as menthol, carvone have now been successfully commercialized in the industry as antimicrobials/insecticidal agents. Mentha is a genus from the family Lamiaceae, whose essential oils has long been used in various forms such as in management of plant pathogens and insect pests, in traditional medicine as well as in culinary and cosmetics.
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