MY HERBARIUM Aquatic Mint, the natural depollutant

 It is all around us, it has been with us since our childhood, it is in our products and on our plates. Chrystel Lacz, agricultural scientist, tells us about plants in her own words. And exceptional natural assets.

Referred to affectionately as "river balm", Aquatic Mint is a little treasure that grows under our bare feet, it plays an essential role in the depollution of our waterways.

It blooms, as we all do, in the summer, adding pretty purple-coloured floral spheres to it's domed leaves that sway along the streams. But beneath its subtle appearance and intense fragrance, Aquatic Mint is a hard worker! It has been known since ancient times for its refreshing, antiseptic and stimulating properties, like its peppery, green and lemon cousins. It has a detoxifying power of its own, discovered much more recently.

Hardy and perennial, it rids water of heavy metals by filtering them through its roots. But not content with cleaning up our rivers on its own and contributing to the health of our environment, it has recently come to the rescue of wastewater basins or watercourses in a particularly bad shape.

It can be found all over the world in the wild, from Iceland to Namibia, and it is increasingly being cultivated, even in our fields in south-west France. It's pretty, it smells good, and it helps save the planet!
Herbal tea, inhalation, friction, balm, the medicinal uses of Aquatic Mint are well documented. We do not recommend it for cooking, however, as it tends to overwhelm the competition in terms of flavour balance! On the cosmetic side, it is a concentrate of antioxidants and polyphenols that help the skin and hair to get rid of pollution. All this to save you from having to rub your face with leaves picked up on a hike!