The menthol production process needs to be optimized. my country’s market demand depends on imports.

Menthol, also known as menthol, is a terpenoid organic compound. Menthol mainly appears as white crystals with a refreshing taste and aroma. It is the main component of peppermint essential oil and can be used as a flavoring agent for products such as toothpaste, perfume, beverages and candies. Menthol has a variety of biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, anti-tumor, etc., and has high medicinal value. Menthol medicine can be applied externally to the skin or mucous membranes to produce a cooling and antipruritic effect. When taken internally, it can be used as a carminative to treat headaches and inflammation of the nose, pharynx, and larynx. In recent years, with the advancement of medical technology and consumers’ increasing demands for quality of life, the market demand for menthol has gradually increased.

Menthol is mainly extracted from the stems and leaves of the aromatic plant mint. Mint likes warm, humid and direct sunlight, and has high requirements for the growing environment. Its quality is greatly affected by environmental factors such as climate, soil, and water resources. The quality of mint will also directly affect the quality of menthol products. my country’s mint planting area is large, and mint output in Anhui and Jiangsu provinces ranks among the top in the country all year round.

According to the “2023-2028 China Menthol Industry Market In-depth Research and Development Prospects Forecast Report released by the Industrial Research Center, according to There are different preparation methods, and menthol is mainly divided into two types: natural menthol and synthetic menthol. Natural menthol has better quality and safety, while synthetic menthol is relatively low-priced and has high production efficiency, but its safety is difficult to guarantee. The technical barriers to synthetic menthol are high. In 2022, my country’s synthetic menthol technology made breakthrough progress and entered the stage of mass production of synthetic menthol. At present, domestic synthetic menthol still needs to rely on foreign imports. Chinese customs data shows that my country’s total imported menthol will reach 149.32 million tons in 2022, and the import value will reach 1.3 billion yuan.

At present, the mainstream production processes of natural menthol in my country are steam distillation and organic solvent extraction. However, with the advancement of technology, the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction method is gradually promoted, and it is expected that it will gradually replace the traditional production process and become the mainstream in the future. Compared with the traditional process, the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction method produces products with good quality, high purity, no solvent residual toxicity, and a more environmentally friendly production process. It can reduce the environmental pressure of enterprises and is favored by menthol enterprises.

Industry analysts said that my country’s menthol industry should develop in the direction of high efficiency, environmental protection and scale in the future. Menthol companies should update production processes, upgrade production technology, improve production efficiency and product quality; at the same time, increase research and development efforts, promote synthetic menthol production technology, and promote the localization of the menthol market; try to use green materials and environmentally friendly technologies in the production process, Reduce pollution to the environment; expand industrial scale, increase market share, achieve industrial agglomeration and development, and form a complete menthol industry chain.