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Spice Comparisons · Comparison

Lemon Balm vs. Mint: Citral Against Menthol and Carvone

By · Reviewed · 22 sources

lemon balm vs mint

Lemon balm and mint share a plant family, the Lamiaceae, so you might expect them to taste alike. They don’t. Lemon balm’s leaf oil is led by citral, the compound behind the smell of lemon,1 while peppermint oil is built on menthol and menthone and spearmint oil on carvone.2 Menthol is what makes peppermint taste cool; the cool taste belongs mostly to peppermint, not to mint in general. Picking between these two isn’t about strength: it’s lemon or mint.

Side by side

Lemon balmMint (peppermint and spearmint)
Botanical nameMelissa officinalis L.Peppermint: Mentha × piperita, a hybrid of water mint and spearmint. Spearmint: Mentha spicata
FamilyLamiaceaeLamiaceae
How many kindsOne species; Kew recognizes two subspecies3About 25 species in the genus (Britannica); 25 to 30 in a 2018 review42
Native rangeMediterranean to Central AsiaPeppermint: Europe to Central Asia, mostly known in cultivation. Spearmint: Europe to China
Key aroma compoundsCitral (geranial and neral) and citronellal1Peppermint: menthol and menthone. Spearmint: carvone2
Cooling effectMenthol is not among the main compounds the EMA names1Peppermint: menthol, which has a minty, cooling taste.5 Spearmint lacks menthol, according to McCormick6
Typical usesSalads, soups, sauces, stuffings, liqueurs, wine, herbal teas, fruit drinksMint sauce for lamb; confectionery, chewing gum, spice mixtures
US food statusOn FDA’s GRAS lists as a spice and as an essential oil78Peppermint and spearmint oils on FDA’s GRAS list of essential oils8
EU contaminant limitHerbal infusions capped at 400 µg/kg pyrrolizidine alkaloids9Peppermint infusions: the same 400 µg/kg cap9
FlavorSoft lemon with a green, faintly minty backgroundPeppermint sharp and cold; spearmint sweeter and gentler
PriceNo dated, sourced comparison foundNo dated, sourced comparison found

Same family, different branches

Both plants are Lamiaceae, the family that also includes basil. Within it, lemon balm and mint are separate genera, Melissa and Mentha. Mint isn’t a subfamily. It’s one genus of about 25 species.4 You’ll see a figure of 40 or more mint varieties all over the place. We couldn’t trace it to a source, and the published species counts are about 25. Lemon balm, on the other hand, is one species with two subspecies recognized by Kew.

They’re also different kinds of plant. Lemon balm is a perennial that grows up to 3 feet, is hardy to Zone 5, and spreads if you leave it alone. Peppermint is a hybrid, known mostly as a cultivated plant that sometimes escapes.

Flavor: lemon against menthol and carvone

The taste differences follow the oils.

Oil (scope)Main compoundsSource
Lemon balm, general description (EMA)Mainly citral, neral and citronellal; β-caryophyllene and germacrene D about 10% eachEMA1
Lemon balm, one Algerian sample (Algiers, May 2018)Geranial 45.06%, neral 31.72%, citronellal 6.42%Abdellatif et al.10
Peppermint (Clark and Menory 1980, as tabulated in a 2018 review)Menthol 29–48%, menthone 20–31%, menthyl acetate 3–10%, menthofuran 6.8%Singh and Pandey2
Spearmint, Serbia (as tabulated in the same review)Carvone 69.5%, menthone 21.9%Singh and Pandey2

These are separate samples from separate studies, so they show which compounds lead each oil, not a typical value. McCormick puts peppermint’s menthol at about 40 percent and describes spearmint as milder and without menthol.6

What that means on the plate:

  • Lemon balm tastes of lemon, without the fruit’s sourness. It has a faint minty background, though none of the sources we read lists menthol or carvone among its main compounds.
  • Peppermint tastes cool. Britannica describes menthol as having a strong minty, cooling smell and taste, and peppermint oil is a natural source of it.5
  • Spearmint is minty but softer. It’s minty but not pungent.

So the claim that mint is “simply minty with no lemon note” holds up. The claim that all mint tastes cool doesn’t. That’s mostly peppermint.

How cooks use them

Mint has a few firmly established jobs. Mint sauce, made from fresh mint, sugar and vinegar, is the traditional partner for roast lamb in England. Katzer writes that true peppermint goes almost entirely into confectionery and sweet liqueurs and that its freshness is great with chocolate, while spearmint is the mint for British mint sauce.11 A 2018 review lists mint as a flavoring in confectionery, cough drops, chewing gum and spice mixtures.2

Lemon balm flavors salads, soups, sauces, stuffings, liqueurs, wine, herbal teas and fruit drinks. It also gives fragrance to wine, tea and beer. Penn State’s lemon balm syrup, made by steeping six 4-inch sprigs in a boiling syrup of equal parts sugar and water for 30 minutes, goes into cocktails, seltzer, pound cake or fruit.12

Handling. LSU AgCenter counts mint among the delicate herbs best added near the end of cooking, because long cooking costs flavor and aroma.13 Lemon balm isn’t on LSU’s list, but cooks treat it the same way. America’s Test Kitchen lists mint among the herbs that are much weaker dried.14

Can one stand in for the other?

Not on its own. Lemon balm can’t give you mint’s menthol or carvone, and mint can’t give you citral. You can push each one closer to the other with a second ingredient. These starting points match our lemon balm substitute and mint substitute pages.

SwapStarting amountTreatment
Mint plus lemon zest in place of 1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemon balm1½ teaspoons chopped fresh mint (spearmint is gentler) plus ¾ teaspoon finely grated lemon zest, then tasteMethod
Lemon balm in place of mint where mint is the main flavorNot a good swap; use the other mint insteadMethod
Lemon balm in place of mint in a mixed herb salad or sauceThe same volume, then tasteMethod
Lemon balm plus mint extract, to add mint flavorA drop or two of extract, then tasteMethod
Dried in place of fresh, either herb1 teaspoon dried per 1 tablespoon freshComputed (general herb rule)

For scale on the extract, McCormick’s label for its Pure Mint Extract says 1 teaspoon equals a whole bunch of mint leaves,15 so a few drops go a long way. The rule of 1 tablespoon fresh to 1 teaspoon dried is LSU AgCenter’s general guide, not a measurement for either herb.13

Health and safety

Medicinal claims. The EMA’s herbal committee accepts lemon balm leaf as a traditional herbal medicine for mild symptoms of stress, to aid sleep, and for mild digestive complaints like bloating and wind. That rests on long-standing use, and the EMA says the evidence isn’t enough to establish that it works.161 For mint, nearly all the research is on peppermint oil, not the leaf. NCCIH reports that enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules may improve irritable bowel syndrome symptoms in adults, but that very little research has been done on peppermint leaf.17 We couldn’t trace the claim that mint does nothing for sleep or anxiety to a source either way. We don’t claim either herb treats anything.

Cautions. For lemon balm medicines, the EMA limits use to adults and children over 12, warns of possible drowsiness, and doesn’t recommend use in pregnancy or breastfeeding.161 NCCIH says peppermint tea appears to be safe, and lists heartburn, nausea, abdominal pain and dry mouth as possible side effects of peppermint oil taken by mouth.17

What isn’t known

  • No study compares the two leaves’ oils in the same analysis.
  • No source we found counts mint “varieties”; the species counts above are the only published figures.
  • We couldn’t find a shelf-life or drying test for lemon balm.
  • No dated, sourced price comparison.

Footnotes

  1. Assessment report on Melissa officinalis L., folium, European Medicines Agency. ema.europa.eu · Regulator ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  2. Pooja Singh and Abhay K. Pandey, “Prospective of Essential Oils of the Genus Mentha as Biopesticides: A Review”, Frontiers in Plant Science, 2018. frontiersin.org · Peer-reviewed ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  3. Melissa officinalis L., Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. powo.science.kew.org · Reference work ↩

  4. “Mint (plant)”, Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩2

  5. Leroy G. Wade, “Menthol”, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2026. britannica.com · Reference work ↩ ↩2

  6. McCormick Kitchens, “About Mint: Uses, Pairings and Recipes”, McCormick, 2026. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩ ↩2

  7. 21 CFR 182.10, US Food and Drug Administration. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩

  8. 21 CFR 182.20, US Food and Drug Administration. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2

  9. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, Annex I, section 2.4. eur-lex.europa.eu · Regulator ↩ ↩2

  10. Abdellatif et al., “Minerals, Essential Oils, and Biological Properties of Melissa officinalis L.”, Plants, 2021. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov · Peer-reviewed ↩

  11. Gernot Katzer, “Mint (Mentha)”, Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages. gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com · Reference work ↩

  12. Mandy L. Smith and Susan Marquesen, “Lemon-Scented Herbs in the Garden and the Kitchen”, Penn State Extension, 2025. extension.psu.edu · Reference work ↩

  13. “Flavorful Herbs”, LSU AgCenter. lsuagcenter.com · Reference work ↩ ↩2

  14. Danielle Lapierre, “When You Should Actually Use Dried Herbs (and Which Ones to Avoid)”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2022. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩

  15. Pure Mint Extract, 2 oz, McCormick product page. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩

  16. “Melissa leaf”, summary for the public, European Medicines Agency, 2014. ema.europa.eu · Regulator ↩ ↩2

  17. “Peppermint Oil”, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2025. nccih.nih.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩2

Also drawn on

  • Lemon balm (Melissa Petruzzello), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com
  • Mentha × piperita L., Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. powo.science.kew.org
  • Mentha spicata L., Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. powo.science.kew.org
  • Mint Sauce (intro quoting Megan Wetherall, “Dinner Mint”, April 2000), Saveur. saveur.com
  • Basil (revised by Sohini Dasgupta, updated 19 Sep 2026), Encyclopaedia Britannica. britannica.com