Wintergreen

Location

Native to the northern and eastern United States and Canada.

Description

Wintergreen is an aromatic, creeping shrub that can be found in dry or moist wooded (usually coniferous) areas. Growing up to six inches in height, wintergreen contains bright red fruit, leathery oval leaves, small pink or white bell-shaped flowers, a short stalk, and faint serration at the margins.  Wintergreen contains a glycoside which is hydrolyzed by another plant enzyme to methyl salicylate (Spoerke 1990).  Methyl salicylate provides pain-relieving properties similar to aspirin.

History

Native Americans brewed tea from the leaves of wintergreen to alleviate rheumatic symptoms.  Wintergreen flavoring today is used as a flavoring in candies, toothpaste, food, and perfumes.  The active ingredient of wintergreen, methyl salicylate, is used as a topical pain-reliever in creams such as BENGAY®.

Current medicinal uses

The essential oil from wintergreen leaves contains about 98% methyl salicylate.   Wintergreen essential oil has pain-relieving properties similar to aspirin (salicylate is the principal component of aspirin) (Balch 2002).  While an infusion of wintergreen leaves is occasionally consumed, the predominate use of wintergreen is the topical use of its essential oil in ointments or liniments for rheumatism, sprains, sciatica, neuralgia and muscular pain (Wren 1994).  

Current culinary uses

Leaves may be made into tea (Spoerke 1990). Wintergreen is also used to flavor candies and chewing gum. 

Adverse effects

Wintergreen essential oil (methyl salicylate) is highly toxic and should be applied externally only.  In order to appreciate the toxicity of wintergreen consider that one teaspoon (5 ml) of wintergreen oil is equivalent to approximately 7000 mg of salicylate (21.7 adult aspirin tablets) (Botma 2001).  High doses of topically applied wintergreen oil can be toxic, as salicylates can be absorbed transdermally. To mitigate the chance of toxicity, wintergreen essential oil should not be applied for more than 3 continuous days per month, and it should not be used among people with chronic kidney or liver conditions.  Also, do not apply to the skin of a child under the age of 12 unless advised to do so by a physician (Balch 2002).  Ingestion of as little as 4 ml in a child can be fatal (Botma 2001).  Wintergreen oil also has blood-thinning effects similar to aspirin.  People who take blood thinners such as warfarin, or those who are sensitive to aspirin are advised against taking wintergreen essential oil. 

References

Balch, Phyllis. Prescriptions for Herbal Healing. An easy-to-use A-Z reference to hundreds of common disorders and their Herbal Remedies.  New York, NY: Penguin Putnam; 2002. p. 143.

Botma M. Colquhoun-Flannery W. Leighton S. “Laryngeal oedema caused by accidental ingestion of Oil of Wintergreen.” International Journal of PediatricOtorhinolaryngology. 58(3): 229-32, 2001 May 11. [Case Reports. Journal Article]

Spoerke D. Wintergreen. Herbal Medications. Santa Barbara, CA: Woodbridge Press Publishing Publishing Company; 1990. p. 179.

Wren RC. Wintergreen. Potter's Newcyclopedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations. Essex, England: C.W. Daniel Company Limited; 1994. p. 285.

Disclaimer 

Information on this website is for educational purposes only. Many herbs historically used for medicine are considered too toxic to use today; some of these herbs have caused deaths. Do not ingest these herbs based on information on this website. We have not provided sufficient information for the safe medicinal use of any of these herbs, nor sufficient information for treatment of poisoning. All recreational use of these herbs is dangerous.