Mint and Insects
In the United States, mint plants actually attract pests in the form of mites, cutworms, and flea beetles. Each of those have the potential to reduce yield by 80% or more.
Mint has long enjoyed the foothold status of a popular and traditional kitchen herb, but it can also offer numerous benefits ranging from the medical arena to other areas having a strong association with health — spanning from the food industry to repellents and insecticides. About 35% of Midwestern mint acres are treated with insecticides primarily for controlling the mint flea beetle and the mint bud mite.
Although the mint industry invested much time and effort on research to commercialize this technology, it ultimately failed to produce a cost effective and available product. Mint growers in the northwest have always been dependent on the use of insecticides for the control of insect pests.
Mint Plant Benefits
The history of local Egyptian mint dates back to at least 1,000 BC, when the ancient Egyptians used it as an herbal medicine. The essential oil from M. longifolla demonstrated strong antibacterial activity against plant and human bacterial pathogens.
Practitioners of traditional medicine use mint to treat a variety of ailments. There have not been, however, many human studies documenting the impact mint has on the body apart from digestion support and irritable bowel syndrome relief.
How To Tell If You Have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS):
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