- Type
- Herbs & Aromatics
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Season
- Spring·Summer·Fall
- Sowing
- From seed
Korean Mint (Bangah)
Agastache rugosa
Essential oil, rosmarinic acid · a herb that thrives in a pot
Korean mint is a perennial in the mint family, known in southern Korea as bangah or bangah-ip. The leaves carry a strong scent and go into savoury pancakes and freshwater fish stews; on southern tables they are an everyday herb. Sown from seed it establishes in its first year, and from the second it self-seeds freely, so a single pot soon becomes several. Purple flower spikes rise from summer into autumn and draw a great many bees. The Donguibogam lists 藿香 in the Wood section marked 【唐】, meaning an imported drug, and in Korea this plant has long stood in for it under the name to-gwakhyang.
Year-Round Calendar
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Where It Grows
- Main producer In North and Central China it is widely grown for medicinal use under the name tu huo xiang.
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Main producer
It grows wild in hills and fields everywhere, and in the south it goes by bangah-ip and is commonly planted in kitchen gardens. Harvest June, July, August, September
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- Wild population It grows wild in the mountains from Honshu southward, but is seldom used as food.
- Wild population It grows wild in fields and along forest edges in the southern Far East, including Primorsky Krai.
Its range is the temperate belt of East Asia, spanning Korea, China and Japan along with the Russian Far East, and no single country can be named as its origin. The medicinal herb gwakhyang covers both this species and gwang-gwakhyang (Pogostemon cablin) of tropical Asia, so the name alone does not separate the two; any map that shades its range must state which species is meant.
- Optimum
- 20~28℃
- Range
- 10~32℃
- Hardiness
- Hardy
A perennial that likes a sunny, well-drained spot. It carries the winter in its roots, so it overwinters — survives the cold season outdoors — even in open ground in the central region, and it takes summer heat and drought well. The stronger the sun, the deeper the scent of the leaves.
In Korea Nationwide
It grows wild in hills and fields nationwide. In Gyeongsang and Jeolla provinces it is called bangah, kept in a corner of the field, and picked for its leaves from summer through autumn.
How to grow
- Light
- Four hours of sun or more. It grows in part shade but the scent thins
- Soil and depth
- Not fussy as long as drainage is good. Pots at least 20cm deep
- Spacing
- 30cm between plants. A single plant spreads wide
- Watering
- Water when the surface dries. Once rooted in, it takes drought well
- Feeding
- A base dressing of compost is enough. Heavy feeding gives large leaves and a thinner scent
- Harvest
- Pick from the top of the plant as needed between June and September. Never take more than a third of a plant at once. Cutting the flower spikes keeps the leaves tender for longer
What makes the difference. It self-seeds readily. If you would rather it stayed put, cut the spikes before the flowers go over, or grow it in a pot to keep its range fixed
Why this one is harder. The roots survive winter in central Korea, but in a pot repeated freezing and thawing damages them. Sink the pot into the ground or set it against a wall for winter, and water hardly at all
Common problems
- Aphids You will see Colonies on new shoots and flower spikes, with sticky leaf undersides What to do Wash them off with a jet of water. Cutting the flower spikes early removes their favourite site and cuts numbers sharply
- Slugs You will see Holes in young leaves and dried silvery trails What to do Collect them by hand in the evening, and clear the daytime hiding places under pots and stones
- Powdery mildew You will see A white dusting on the leaves, as if flour had been scattered What to do Open up the spacing so air moves through, and strip the older lower leaves
This page describes how a crop is grown and used. It does not claim health effects for any food, nor is it intended to prevent or treat disease. Component and study notes are references only and do not mean the same result occurs in people. Consult a medical professional about health concerns.
Health Benefits
What the Donguibogam records — nature, taste and the 【唐】 mark. The Donguibogam lists 藿香 in the Wood section, giving a slightly warm nature, a pungent taste and no toxicity. The entry carries the mark 【唐】, indicating a drug imported from China. In Korea this plant took that place under the name to-gwakhyang, and one scholarly view holds that the 藿香 of the original text is patchouli, Pogostemon cablin. This is a historical medical record and differs from modern medical judgment.
Preparation, and its use as incense. The same entry sets out the preparation: wash in water, discard the soil and stems, and use the leaves. It also records that older generations blended this aroma with others to make incense. This concerns use and preparation, and differs from modern medical judgment.
Essential oil composition. Analyses report estragole, also called methyl chavicol, as the main constituent of the essential oil, and note that the proportions shift with growing region and time of harvest. This concerns composition, and has nothing to do with preventing or treating disease.
Nutrition
- Essential oil (estragole and others) (held in the leaves and flower spikes) — the volatile compounds behind the plant's distinctive scent
- Rosmarinic acid (a polyphenol common across the mint family) — a phenolic acid detected in the leaves
- Tilianin (an acacetin glycoside) (a flavonoid reported in Korean mint) — a flavonoid glycoside reported in the mint family
The essential oil The scent of the leaf comes from its essential oil. Estragole, also called methyl chavicol, is reported as the main constituent, with limonene and caryophyllene also detected. Being volatile, the oil disperses under long cooking. Add the leaf to a soup or stew just before the heat goes off. The concentrated oil sold as a fragrance, however, is that fraction pulled out and gathered up, and it is not handled as the same material as the leaf. Cooking with the leaf and swallowing the oil or a concentrated extract are separate matters.
Rosmarinic acid Rosmarinic acid is a polyphenol found widely across the mint family. Analyses report detecting it in Korean mint leaf as well. The same work notes wide variation in content depending on drying method and time of harvest. This entry stays with the compositional record.
Drying and holding the scent Korean mint loses a noticeable amount of scent on drying. Picking fresh leaf as needed works better, and any surplus keeps its scent longer chopped and frozen. Once flower spikes rise, the leaves turn coarse. Cut the spikes off any plant you are growing for leaf.
Pairings
○ Savoury pancakes — Chop the leaf finely and mix it into the batter. Contact with hot oil spreads the scent evenly. Three or four leaves are plenty for one 20cm pancake.
○ Spicy fish stew and chueotang — Long used to cover the muddy note of freshwater fish. Add it just before the heat goes off, or the scent will not survive. Boiled at length, the oil disperses and only bitterness remains.
○ Doenjang stew and clear soups — It sits well against the savoury depth of fermented soybean paste. This is a standard combination on southern tables. Use it alone, without a second aromatic herb in the same pot.
△ The essential oil and concentrated extracts are not food — What goes into a pancake batter or a fish stew is the leaf. Estragole, also called methyl chavicol, is reported as the main constituent of Korean mint's essential oil, and it is a compound whose intake in essential-oil and concentrated-extract form has been treated as something to restrict in Europe. A few leaves used as a herb and a swallow of the neat oil are handled as different things. Do not eat the essential oil or concentrated extracts sold as fragrance, and do not brew the leaf into a strong decoction beyond herb quantities either. Keep the oil bottle out of children's reach.
Varieties
- Native bangah (seed) — The long-cultivated southern line. Broad leaves and a deep scent
- White-flowered form (seed) — A colour variant with white flowers. Scent and use are the same
- Anise hyssop (seed) — A separate North American species (Agastache foeniculum), grown for flower tea and as a bee plant. Its leaf scent differs from Korean mint
Source: Donguibogam, Wood Section 藿香 · Korea National Arboretum · Rural Development Administration (Nongsaro)